


Just Add Water

by Goji_Berry



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Assault, Attempted Murder, Blood and Violence, F/M, Marinette is a mermaid and she doesn't know it., Pictures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-23 03:32:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13778769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goji_Berry/pseuds/Goji_Berry
Summary: Marinette grew up in an orphanage at the age of two. she had no memory and was considered a curse because she had blue hair. Even as she got older and began to have breathing problems, the people grew increasing upset that the girl was still alive. Then a green eyed, blond haired man comes out of no where and tries to drown her for her own good, but Alya and Nino, Marinette's only friends, ain't havin it and will do anything to stop him.





	1. Where is the Jewel?

     

      There was a girl, but not just any girl, this girl was special, and she was stolen at a very tender age and taken to a people that was not her own. She grew up in an orphanage because everyone thought she was cursed because she had blue hair and it marked the beginning of the people’s sorrows. Fishing, swimming and boating on the waters meant death for anyone who dared try.  Many times, people talked about taking her out on a boat and dropping her in the water as a sacrifice to appease the water king so he would allow people to fish and use the waters once again.  But, that never happened and it only made things worse.

                                

                    

 

 

“Do you think he’s sleeping now? The water is calm today”

“Nah… He’s a sneaky one, Nino. The moment you try to go out there… BAM! You’re dead.”

“It’s not fair Alya, mankind hasn’t been able to eat fish or go swimming because someone took the jewel of the water kingdom? Whatever _that_ is.”

“I know, right! … what do you think Mari?”

“Nino’s right, (((cough))), (((cough))), If there is a water king, he shouldn’t be blaming us, divers can’t even go down that deep to find a water kingdom and I bet The Jewel of the water kingdom or ocean is just a made up fairy tale, besides; the ocean could be just violent due to underwater quakes (((cough))), (((cough))), (((cough))), (((wheeze)))”

“Says the girl who’s deathly afraid of water, tell me again why you’re afraid?” Alya said as she handed Marinette her inhaler and a bottle of water. “Mar-bar, that cough sounds like it’s getting worse”

Marinette patted her chest after drinking the water and then took a long breath from her inhaler.

“Alya, I’m fine and I already told you, Chloe tried to drown me when I was 4 and I’ve never gotten over it. Then she tried to tell people that she had a dream that things won't be normal again as long as I'm breathing air!  I always have nightmares of being underwater and being terrified. That brat never even got into trouble for it because her father owns the orphanage.”

"I can't believe she said that!" Alya looked at her shocked.

"Can you believe some people actually believed her? Tikki actually caught someone trying to poison my food!"

"Wow, what happened to that person?"

"Nothing! he was told to stay away from me because I was only 7"

“Dudes, I wish we could go swimming, I’m tired of that lame pool Kim has and Chloe just tries to rub it in everyone’s face at how big and fancy her daddies pool is”

“You know, they never let me get near it… she says I might contaminate it with my blue hair and kill everyone.” 

“She’s an ass!” Alya said as she rubbed soothing circles on Marinette’s back. “Well, at least we can play in the sand and make sand castles”

“Sorry Alya… you know how my skin gets if it gets too dry”

“Scaly I know; you sure you don’t belong out there in the water?”

“I grew up in an orphanage Alya… I’m not a fish”

“It would be cool right? Being a mermaid? You do have cool looking blue hair, Oh, and you might want to get some more of that black hair rinse because it’s really blue again.”

Marinette put her head down. “Nothing works well anymore, Alya… as soon as water hits my hair, the dye just rinses away with the water…  but anyway, now your saying that all mermaids have blue hair? Have you guys ever seen one?”

“No, and we don’t want to!” Nino cut in. “I hear they’re terrifying to look at and they eat people’s eyes, hearts and livers. My parents told me the story about the last diver that washed up on the shore without eyes and had a big hole in his chest! He also had claw marks all over his body.”

“Yeah, I heard that story too, it’s part of the school’s curriculum now to learn the story so no one makes the same mistake. I’m sorry, but that jerk had that coming, how many times was he told to stay out of the water? He would brag about the things he did and got away with down there. He even claimed to have taken the Jewel himself even though he could never produce it. He went around telling people that he also saw a green eyed, emerald green tailed merchild and he was going to steal it and bring it back to show everyone that they did in fact exist. He said he was going to use the kid to force the water kings hand; he brought that upon himself! And now we all have to suffer because of one man’s stupidity”

“How could one little man think that he could possibly go up against a sea monster?”

“There’s monsters?”

“Yeah girl… I did in fact see a picture of one and let me tell you, they are scary! I’d much rather deal with a shark!”

“When did all of this happen?”

“Hmm, about uh… 14 years ago I think”

“I guess that’s why I didn’t hear about it, I was only a kid in the orphanage when all that happened”

“You don’t remember anything before you went there? Your mom, your dad? Sisters or brothers? Anything?”

“Alya, all I remember is being mistreated by everyone my whole life. I would have starved to death if it wasn’t for Tikki, she was sneaking food to me when everyone fell asleep. She told me that she found me on this beach asleep when I was little and she said I couldn’t talk or tell anyone where I came from or how I ended up on the beach with just a fishnet top on and nothing else. She told me I was special because I had blue hair and it was a sign, but the only thing it has ever been is a constant reminder that the people around here don’t like me!”

“It’s strange that no one filed a missing child report! How could anyone leave a little girl on the beach half naked? Unless you… _are_ a mermaid and you washed up on the beach and you can’t remember cause your merparents were eaten by sharks.”

“Are you kidding? That’s stupid! If I were a mermaid I’d grow a tail every time I took a bath or shower!”

“You have a valid point but then again, it might be another reason you don’t have a tail”

“Really Alya? (((cough))) …  I was abandoned by my parents because they didn’t like me, plain and simple!”

“Well I like you and so does Nino, we’ve been friends for 5 years now and your pretty blue hair will never come between us, okay?”

“Thanks, Alya… Do you know how many times I’ve shaved my head?”

“What?!... Why? Nino jumped in.

“Because I wanted people to see ME, not my hair, it was pointless though… the more I cut it, the faster it would grow back and twice as long.”

“Girl, if anyone understands your pain, it’s Nino and I. If it was up to me, I’d tell you to let it fly in the wind and to hell with these stuck-up people, they are all just jealous!”

There was a lightning strike that went from the water to the sky about two miles out from the sandy beach.

“Guys, I think we should get out of here now, it looks like the water kings kid is awake, I’m heading home, my parents told me if I ever saw lightning going in the opposite direction; the kid is having a temper tantrum and it won’t be pretty!”

“Are you guys kidding me? I don’t believe in any of those stories! There is no water king, no kid having a temper tantrum, no merchildren and no Jewel of the water kingdom!”

“Mari, then how do you explain that freakish lightning?” Nino pointed at the next strike that again came from the water and went skyward, causing the clouds to turn gray suddenly and the wind to pick up.

“I don’t know but there has to be some other explanation besides angry fish people!”

“Mari, honey… don’t get so upset, we’re just doing what we’re told. My mom doesn’t want me to be out here either when that happens; it’s a warning to take cover”

Marinette looked sad, she didn’t want her friends to leave, she had nowhere to go except back to the orphanage where she knew she would be teased. She was 16 now and lawfully to old to be there. If it wasn’t for Mrs. Tikki looking out for her, she would be living in a cardboard box.  Marinette hated her life.

“I know you’re not allowed to stay over at my house, but are you going to be okay Mari?”

“I’m a big girl Alya… I’ll be fine, I’m just going to sit here for a while longer and then I’ll head back to the orphanage.”

“Mari, I wish things were different, I wish you could come home with me but my mom…”

“You don’t have to worry Alya; hey, I told you that I’m use to it. Your mom has every right to feel the way she does, I’m not mad at her; yeah, I’m a little bummed but it is what it is. I’m just happy that you and Nino are my friends.”

“It’s just stupid that those old folks think that a girl with blue hair and blue eyes…”

“Alya… it’s fine, go on home”

“Oh… okay, see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, same time and thanks for the food, I would starve to death without you and Tikki”

 

* * *

 

 

“Your majesty, your son is having the fit again and he’s getting worse”

“DO YOU THINK I’M DEAF?! THE ENTIRE OCEAN KNOWS HE’S HAVING _THE_ FIT!!”

“Is there anything you want us to do your majesty?”

“What can we do? We’ve searched the entire ocean for the Jewel for the last 14 years! The Jewel must be on land!”

“But if the Jewel is on land…”

“Don’t say it! I know the consequences, we won’t lose my son or the Jewel of the ocean, as long as he’s alive, then we know the Jewel is still out there!”

“AHHHHH!!!! IT HURTS!!!! PLAGG, MAKE IT STOOOOOPPP!!!”

“Breathe kid, take in the oceans healing waters and let it cool your scales”

“THAT… AGH AHHH!! THAT DOESN’T WORK ANYMORE!!! JUST… JUST KILL ME!!!!

“Hold on kid, I’ve been working on this trident, it will help you channel your powers away from your body until the Jewel of the ocean is found”

Prince Adrien squirmed and swam around on the sea floor. He felt like his scales were on fire. His normal emerald green scales were turning black as coal and everyone in the underwater kingdom knew what that meant.

 

                    

 

 

 It started out as a small spot the size of a pebble 14 years ago the moment when the Jewel was taken and no one even knew about the spot until they found the little prince scratching at his fin and hiding in sea kelp. Now 14 years later, most of the scales on his body are black.

The problem began 14 years ago when a Mer-guard found a human’s dive knife where the missing Jewel was, the water king exploded in anger. The merfolk caught up with the diver but he had long since hidden the Jewel away and refused to tell them. They were about to drown the man but his friends from the dive boat saw too many bubbles rising to the surface of the water and dove in to help him thinking the worse. The merfolk swam away so they wouldn’t be seen.  Afterwards, a decree went out across the oceans to destroy any human that dare fish or step foot in the oceans waters and everyone was to search for the Jewel. Later that evening, the diver went back to the hiding place within some rocks to retrieve the sedated pink mermaid, but she was gone. Little did he realize, she was taken by the oceans current and washed up on the beach and because she laid out on the sunny beach for a long time, her tail magically transformed into legs to protect itself.

 

                    

 

 

The diver was angry and went to the town to tell everyone what had happened but no one believed him. He swore he would go back and bring proof and people just laughed at him.

“Hey man, you must have the bends, I hear that swimming up to the surface too fast can mess with your brain and kill you”

“I’ve been diving for twenty years damn it! I know what the hell the Bends is and I don’t have it! I’m telling you, there’s Merfolk down there and I had that pink merchild! and Let me tell you, that fish sparkled like pink diamonds. I’m going to bring back that bright emerald green scaled Mer-kid and make a fortune off those scales!”

“Yeah Man, good luck with that and I can’t wait to see it” the tavern man chuckled and left the diver who was gritting his teeth at all the people who were pointing and laughing at him.

“I’ll show you all!”

Needless to say, the diver never had a chance. The first ripple from the surface water alerted everyone. He was pulled under fast and brought to the king.

“Will you tell me, my son and these merfolk, where you hid the Jewel?”

 

                    

 

 

The diver looked at the sad emerald scaled merchild who was sucking his thumb and then to a very large Merman that held close a short grieving mermaid.

"I- I didn't take a Jewel!" the diver yelled behind his face mask.

"The child mermaid! the child that has pink scales that sparkle! she is the jewel of the water kingdom! the princess to my son that will be king of the ocean! where did you hide her!" Gabriel yelled, causing the current to move harder.

The diver looked scared. From the appearance of the grieving mermaid, he could tell that the Jewel belonged to her.

“I don’t know where the Jewel is!” I went back but the Jewel wasn’t there” The diver yelled behind his oxygen face mask.

The Mermaid let out a cry similar to a dolphin in pain. She swam away and her husband followed.

“Do you realize what you’ve done?!”

The diver frantically shook his head no. He was shocked to find out that he actually took a mermaid princess that would eventually be a queen. 

The Water king sent his Mer-child off to his care takers and then turned to face the diver.

“You will die this day… slowly. My son is a prince of these oceans and is bonded to the Jewel. That Jewel was foretold to come to him and my people 200 years ago... 200 hundred long years!!!  To come when the child, my child of emerald green was born that held inside of him a terrible power! The power of death and destruction. The Jewel was sent to bring balance! He brings death and the jewel brings life. Now he has no way to keep his power under control thanks to you! You have not only put my world in jeopardy, but your world as well! He will bring tsunami's to your shores, storms that will destroy everything on land! and he will boil the seas if she is not reunited with him!! ”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry I didn’t know!” the diver cried out.

“You humans are full of apologies after you pollute the oceans, after you spill oil that nearly wiped some of the sea creatures from existence! I allowed you humans to feast on the seas bounty and you still come down here and steal the most important thing the merfolk have!”

“Please, let me make it up to you! Let me make it right!”

“You said it yourself, you don’t know where the Jewel is, you are no longer useful… guards, feed him to the Kracken!

 

 

* * *

 

 

After Alya and Nino left, Marinette made herself a bit more comfortable on the beach. She watched the clouds and felt the wind pick up but she didn’t move, she felt oddly relaxed with each lightning crack. Marinette eventually fell asleep on the sand.

Three hours later, Marinette woke up in a panic. The tide came in and something was pulling her by the foot into deeper water. She started kicking and screaming and fighting for freedom. She couldn’t see clearly what she was fighting and she didn’t want to look. Nino and Alya made it clear how scary the underwater monsters were. Marinette started to cry, she didn’t want to die, she didn’t want her heart ripped from her chest or her eyes eaten.  

 

                    

 

 

All of Marinette’s screams caught the attention of a man that was passing by on his way home as he also knew all too well what this type of storm meant. He ran to the woman’s side just as she broke free from the creature’s grasp. Marinette threw herself at the man but as soon as he took a good look at her, he pushed her off of him in horror.

“DON’T TOUCH ME YOU CURSED WOMAN!” The man yelled.

He looked at the water and saw movement within it and a pair of yellow-green orbs bobbing in and out of the water.

“Please help me! My ankle!” Marinette pleaded.

“NO! Ever since you arrived, the people have been cursed from going near the water! We’ve done everything to appease that monster hoping it would allow us to fish again and nothing’s worked! Maybe…”

The man grabbed Marinette’s arm roughly.

“Ouch, let go of me, what are you doing!”

“Maybe things will get better if we offer YOU as a sacrifice? From the looks of what I saw earlier, it tried to get you anyway!”

The man began to drag Marinette to the water.

“NO! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!”

Marinette fought the man’s hold on her arm and it became a battle of wills. It was about the depth of a six-foot-tall man from the shore that the next crack of lightning erupted from the water and went skyward. A team of dolphins and sharks made their dorsal fins known a few seconds later.

“Looks like that was the call of the dinner bell, lass!”

Marinette looked at the water in horror, she’s never seen so many sharks that close to shore in her life and something was indeed calling them.

“PLEASE… I’M BEGGING YOU, DON’T DO THIS!”

“One sacrifice to save many, Lass!”

Marinette tried desperately to remove the man’s grip from her arm but he was just too strong. All the struggling was causing her lungs to hurt and become dryer. She glanced at the water and it was like a frenzy of activity. They were just at the waters edge and Marinette scratched him really hard.

“Ah… you bitch!”

Marinette crawled on her hands and knees to try to get away and the man kicked her in her side, causing her to fall down and scream out in pain.

A Trident erupted from the water and struck the man in his back, killing him. He fell dead on the sand next to Marinette.

 

                    

 

 

Marinette stood up slowly, holding her side and wheezing at the same time. She looked at the dead man with a black smoking hole in his back and then at the water. It was completely calm and earie looking. She could make out orb reflections by the hundreds watching her and it terrified her.  She turned to leave the beach and a multitude of aquatic wails and cries broke from the water. It was enough for her to nearly run home regardless of how much her chest hurt. She didn’t want to be the next to die from being stabbed.

**Prior to the incident**

“Your highness, there’s a human asleep on the beach shores and if you continue to stir up the waters, the tide will rise and over take them and according to your father, we must kill them”

Adrien hissed and the merman backed away.

Forgive me your highness, I just thought you should know before we kill the human female.

“Female? I want to see this… Female, surely she is not ready to die”

Adrian and his armada swam close to the beach. The water hadn’t touched the girl yet and she was sleeping peacefully.

Adrian felt a surge of relief in his scales the closer he got to the girl. He handed his triton to the guard next to him to test out his theory and sure enough nothing in his body hurt.

“Could it be?”

 

                    

 

 

Adrian deflated when he saw the girl’s black hair and her face was turned away so he couldn't see it. It was hopeless, how could he think that out of all the girls in the world, she would be the one. He was going to die and so was the jewel.

“Let the waters rise!” Adrien commanded as he took the Trident and Pierce the sandy floor beneath him.

On cue, the waters rose in the first thing it touched was Marinette’s hair. The prince was turning to leave but a guard stopped him.

“Your highness, the water rinses a black substance from the girl’s hair!”

“Is that not normal for human females?” Adrien asked.

“No, your highness, it could be a poison meant to kill our kind!”

“They wouldn’t poison the waters again after their last oil spill. They need the waters just as much as we do!”

“What are your orders your highness?”

“We wait until the waters are deep enough, my father won’t be happy if he finds out a human was in our waters and survived to talk about it”

another merman swam over to the Prince.

“Your highness, come quick! The girl, she has…”

“She’s has what?!”

“She has blue hair!”

“That’s impossible, we just said she had black hair!”

“But the water is washing that black substance out of her hair, it’s blue now”

Adrien commanded every sea creature to stay back while he managed to get impossibly close. Her hair was long so it floated in the water and Adrian was able to touch it. As soon as he raked his hand through the floating strands a few of his scales turned emerald green and Adrian wanted to cry. He finally found the jewel of the water Kingdom. His mate! Unfortunately, he could also feel how much pain she was in. She was weak, her gills were without the oceans water for 14 years and have’s struggle to work like normal lungs. She also produced legs to cope with being out of the water to protect her tail.

“No more pain, Princess” Adrien said as he choked back a sob. “No more pain for either of us!”

Adrian’s tail prevented him from retrieving the jewel properly so he waited for the tide to rise a bit more before he grabbed her ankle and started tugging her into deeper water. The word spread quickly through the kingdom that Adrian found the jewel and was currently trying to bring her home. Mermaid Sabine and merman Tom as well as the entire water Kingdom rejoiced.

But, it was short-lived when Marinette woke up in a panic as something latched on to her ankle. The Prince didn’t want to hurt her and he didn’t want to let her go either. He held on strong no matter how hard she fought, only backing off when he felt her struggling for breath. It was a tug-of-war, a war he couldn’t bear to lose, but her cries and wails for freedom cut him deeper than his Trident ever could.

Did she not know that he was trying to help her? Did she not recognize her own kind? What did the humans do to her?

If it wasn’t for the slick fish oil that covered his scales he would have succeeded in pulling her under. She slipped from his grasp and was screaming for help. The merfolk watched in horror as the jewel moved farther away from the water and Adrian nearly lost his mind.

“No! I can’t lose her!”

Everything in the water started to panic. It didn’t help to see the Prince thrashing back and forth, trying to get to her. There was only so far that he could go before he would be stuck in the shallow depths. They watched as her screams alerted a man passing by. Two mermaid guards restrained Adrien from hurting himself on the rocks.

The sea watched in trepidation at the exchange between the man and the jewel of the water. It was an unpleasant exchange that caused the entire body of sea creatures to splash around as if they were ready to go to battle, but Adrian watched patiently as the man pulled her to the water. He was in aw of her beauty. He didn’t like that the man had his hands on the jewel, but it was the only choice he had of getting her into the water. All that changed when she got away from the man and he violently kicked her. It was a pain that Adrian could feel himself. He was more than outraged at the man for kicking his Princess and it was not something he was going to tolerate. When he saw the man ready to strike the jewel again, he grabbed his Trident, aimed it at the man and called on his cataclysm and threw his Trident at the man and it stabbed him in his back; he died. They watched as the jewel stood up while holding her side, she looked to be in pain. Everyone in the water watched to see what she would do next. She looked to the water and they tried to make themselves known but she just backed away in fear. It was not until she started walking further and further away that they realize the gravity of the situation; she was leaving. The Dolphins, the mermaids, and every sea creature that could make a sound, cried and wailed but Adrian’s wail was the loudest.

“Your highness, you can’t… it’s too dangerous! Your father wouldn’t approve!”

“My father isn’t here right now and she’s getting away; this might be the only chance I have!”

“Let one of the guards retrieve her, please!”

“She will only run away, I must do this myself!”

“Your highness, you’ll only have three days, if you’ve not returned to the sea by the sunset on the third day you’ll die and we would lose you both!”

“If she doesn’t return to the ocean, you will lose us both anyway!”

The mer-guard bowed his head and the sea creatures watched as Prince Adrien swam to the shore. He dragged himself onto the beach and dried his tail with the heat of his cataclysm. He howled in pain as his tail dried out and gave way to new legs. He stood on shaky legs for the first time and fell.

 

                    

 

 

It took about 7 tries before he managed to get the hang of walking with them. He slowly walked over to the dead man and retrieved his Trident.

 

                    

 

 

He didn’t want to take it with him so he took it to the waters edge and waited for a mer-guard to come close. When he did, he threw it. The mer-guard collected it and Adrien dismissed him. The Mer-guard left 4 sentries at the beach to await Adrien’s return.

 

 

                     

 

 

Adrien looked in the direction to which the Jewel had fled....

"I'm coming for you Princess, you belong to me and no one else will ever hurt you again!"


	2. An awkward conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino has a strange conversation with the Blonde guy he met on the beach.

 

Nino felt stupid, he had to go back to the beach because he forgot his headphones.

“Ugh! How could I forget my stupid headphones! I literally wear them all the time!” Nino berated himself. He was however thrilled that the sky was calm again because frankly, it was weird for it to suddenly stop without causing a lot of property damage. Nino found his headphones a short while after arriving back at the beach and looked out at the water.

“I guess he’s in a good mood.”

“Good mood?”

 

                

 

 

Nino whipped around at the sudden voice…

“Woah… dude! Uh, how about covering that thing up?”

“Woah dude… covering? What is …covering?”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“What is… you’re kidding right?”

“Oh, you must be a mental patient, that explains a lot”

“That explains a lot” Adrien repeated.

“Okay” Nino looked at Adrien funny.

“Okay?” Adrien mimicked.

Nino stared at Adrien for a moment and Adrien stared back.

“Do you need help, dude?”

“Need help… dude”

Nino took the big shirt his dad left in his jeep and put it on Adrien.

 

                  

 

 

“What is this you have done to me?”

“I covered you up, dude… you can’t walk around naked, someone might see you!”

“You see me”

“Yeah, and I really didn’t want too, dude”

“So where did you come from?”

“Water” Adrien pointed to the ocean.

Nino rolled his eyes, he felt like this guy had a screw loose. Nobody comes from those-shark infested waters.

“Oh, you must be thirsty, I have a bottle of water in my car, wait here a second”

Adrien was curious about this human, he seemed to be nice and helpful. Maybe he would be able to take him to his princess. He was at least coming from the direction that she left in.

“Okay Dude… here’s the water.” Nino held out a bottle of Aquafina water.

Adrien took it and stared at it curiously; not knowing what to do with it. He watched the liquid move around in the bottle as he played with it.

“For Pete sakes Dude!” Nino took it and opened it and gave it back to him.

Adrien sniffed it and took a mouthful.

…Then spit it out.

“What? You don’t like water?”

Adrien turned the bottle upside down and poured the entire contents out.

“What the heck, that was a totally good bottle of water!”

Nino watched Adrien as he headed towards the water and he followed him.

“Where are you going Dude!”

 

               

 

 

Adrien kept going and Nino was starting to panic.

“Hey! I wouldn’t get near the water, it’s dangerous!... Dude, stop! Do you want to die!”

That’s when Nino noticed a man in a blue shirt and shorts laying in the sand about 100 feet away. The way he was laying looked a bit odd but Nino shrugged it away when he saw the blonde at the water’s edge.

Nino ran over to him just as Adrien bent down to fill the bottle with the oceans water. Nino started to freak out. He looked out at the water because he could feel things watching them. Sometimes he could see dorsal fins and weird reflections that looked like glowing eyes. Why was this guy acting like he didn’t care? And didn’t he realize how dangerous it was to be that close to the water?

“Dude, are you done? I really don’t want to be this close to the water anymore!”

 

                

 

 

“Water…” Adrien stood up and turned towards Nino and with a grin, showed him the now full bottle and started to drink it.

“Ew… that’s so gross dude! I gave you a perfectly good bottle of fresh clean water and you dump it out to drink salty sea water?!... you must be sick”

Nino watched Adrien drink the whole bottle and then watched as the blond bent down and fill the bottle a second time.

“You are going to be so sick, dude”

Adrien put the cap on the now full bottle of salty ocean water and then walked back towards the road. Nino trekked behind him looking totally confused.

“Hey dude… I’m Nino, what’s your name?” Nino held out his hand to shake.

Adrien mimicked the move and held his hand up. “Dude”

Nino frowned…

“Your name is, Dude? … how did I not see that coming”

Nino grabbed Adrien’s hand and shook it. When he pulled it away he was grossed out.

“Aw Mann… Why is your hand so slimmeeeey!” Nino whined as he wiped his hand on his pant leg.

Adrien ignored him as he walked over to Nino’s jeep… and pointed.

“Dude?”

“Yeah, it’s nice right? I’ll be making payments on it for the next 4 years though” Nino said excitedly and then frowned when he realized the blonde was calling his jeep... Dude.

Nino sighed. “Man are you kidding me? It doesn’t have a name, it’s just a jeep!”

Nino ran his hand down his face, he wasn’t getting anywhere with the blonde. His best bet was to take the guy to the hospital to let them figure out what to do with him.

“Dude, get in the jeep, I’ll take you into town so someone can help you”

Nino got into the driver’s seat and waited for Adrien to get in. Adrien just stood by the jeep and looked at Nino.

“ _What is that thing he’s in?”_ Adrien thought to himself.

“Dude, get… in… the… jeep!” Nino deadpanned

When Adrien didn’t move, Nino got out of the jeep, went to the passenger’s side and opened the door so Adrien could get in. Adrien still stood there.

Nino groaned and the gently guided him into the jeep and closed the door after he fastened Adrien’s seat belt.

“Dude, don’t get any of that slimy stuff on my seats, okay?”

“seats… okay” Adrien confirmed as he tugged on the belt. “I don’t like fish nets, remove it from me!”

“Fish net? That’s a good one Dude, fish nets were banned 13 in a half years ago” Adrien's face looked stricken so Nino removed the belt.

Nino started the jeep and at the sound of the revving engine, Adrien hissed angrily and reached out his hand to destroy the metal creature.

“Relax dude, it’s just the engine, you act like you’ve never been in a jeep before”

Without waiting for a response, Nino started driving back to the city.

After about 5 miles of silence, Nino tried speaking to the blond again.

“So… dude, was there somewhere you were headed when I found you?”

Adrien looked at Nino…

“Yes, I am looking for… the jewel of the water kingdom” Adrien said and turned his head back toward the front window.

“The jewel huh… you know they say the jewel of the water kingdom is said to be a made-up fairytale”

“The Jewel is real; the jewel is not a f-faarr…i…but the jewel does have a tail”

“Oh yeah? that weird, So… you’ve seen the jewel yourself?”

“Yes, the jewel is beautiful” Adrien responded, never turning to look at Nino. He was memorizing the route Nino was going in so he would know how to return to the water.

 

                 

 

 

“You know, I heard there was a diver about 14 years ago that claimed to have taken the Jewel but he couldn’t produce it and everyone thought he was crazy”

“Yes, I remember him; he made me sad and my father was very angry with him”

“Dude, weren't you like a little kid or something? and why was your father angry? Everyone thought that the diver was just crazy”

“Yes, I was... smaller than I am right now and My father was angry because the diver was a thief”

“I can dig it; thieves can make anyone angry.”

“Are you a thief?”

“Pft, me? No way Dude!”

“So, you would return the jewel to the rightful place?”

“Yeah Dude… in a heartbeat!”

“I like you Nino, that makes me happy”

“But what about you? Would you return it to its rightful place?” Nino asked. He thought this was a weird conversation but it was helping know the blonds mental state so he could inform the hospital when he got there.

“Yes… that is why I am here”

“Dude, you talk funny… you’re not from around here, are you?”

“No, where I come from, we talk different but my father knows how to speak many languages.”

“So, let me hear it”

“That’s not possible, I’m sorry”

“You’re a strange Dude, you know that? But it’s all good.”

“It is all good” Adrien repeated.

“By the way, Dude… that jewel of the water kingdom; how much is the jewel worth?”

“The jewel?” Adrien turned to Nino with a serious glare that almost scared Nino. “The Jewel is priceless and I won’t let anyone stand in my way of getting the Jewel!”

“Chill Dude! You can be a bit scary sometimes, I don’t think anyone will get in your way of your little scavenger hunt, besides; no one even knows what the Jewel looks like… except for you of course”

Adrien only nodded but was curious to know why Nino claims no one knows what the jewel looks like when she's around them all the time.

“I’m curious Dude… if you find the Jewel, what’s the first thing your going to do with it? I know you said it was priceless, but you haven’t thought of buying a house or car with it? You could be rich and get yourself a lot of clothes instead of walking around naked”

“I need not those things you speak of, the Jewel needs to be underwater”

“You’re going to just put the Jewel underwater???”

“Yes, the jewel will shine again once I get the Jewel underwater”

“Well, I’m not sure how to respond to that but whatever floats your boat” Nino said and shrugged his shoulders.

“I do not have a boat to float, nor do I need one, I’m happy swimming under the water”

“Yeah, I like swimming under the water two”

Adrien turned to look at Nino

“I’ve never seen you underwater, when was this? my father would not be pleased!”

“Dude, When the local pools aren’t crowded; it would be even better to swim in the water at the beach but it’s not allowed and it’s too dangerous.”

Adrien looked at the human and smiled, since Nino has been so nice to him, he was considering granting his request after his Princess was returned to the water.

Nino was a mile away from town now. Even though he felt like his strange passenger was weird, he rather enjoyed his weird company.

 

Instead to going back to the orphanage, Marinette went over Alya’s house. She was just too scared to go back there at the moment and she needed help calming her nerves.

(((knock))) (((knock)))

Marinette waited for someone to answer the door. She really hoped it was Alya because Alya’s family felt the same way as everyone else. That she was a curse.

“Yes, can I help- “Alya’s mother frowned when she saw the blue-nette.

“Hi, Ma’am… may I speak with Alya? I promise I won’t cause any trouble” Marinette looked at the woman with sad eyes.

“Now you know I don’t like you hanging around my Alya! Why did you come here? What do you want with her?”

“I-I just needed to…” Marinette put her head down as tears formed in her eyes.

 “You know, every since you showed up 14 years ago, that was the very last time anyone ate any sea food? No fish, no lobster, no clams, nothing! My specialty was cooking seafood dishes and now my business is terrible!”

“But I had nothing to do with that, I was just a kid then and I still don’t know where I came from or why everyone is blaming me for this.” Marinette said as she choked back a sob.

“MOM! What are you doing? Alya came to the door at hearing Marinette’s voice. One look at Marinette, told Alya that her mom was being mean to the girl.

“Alya, I told you she was not to come here!”

“Yes, you did and if she’s here, then something happened to her and she wanted to talk to me about it”

“Well, apparently whatever it was, she could have called!”

“Mom, please… Marinette is not a bad person, let me just talk to her and see why she’s here”

“Alya, you have 15 minutes and I don’t want to ever see her here again, is that clear?!”

“Yes ma’am” Alya said sadly as she looked at Marinette’s downcast face. After her mother left, Alya took Marinette into the backyard where they had more privacy and away from the neighbor’s angry glares.

“What happened Mari? Was it the orphanage?”

Marinette burst out crying and Alya hugged her until she was able to speak.

“A-Alya, I fell asleep at the beach and I didn’t know the tide came in, something woke me up by pulling my ankle and dragging me into deeper water and I was too scared to see what it was.”

“Oh my gosh, Mari!”

“That’s not all…”

“I’m sorry, go on”

“I started screaming and fighting and I eventually got away as you can see, but there was this man in blue shorts and a blue tank top that came to my aid and instead of helping me, he tried to drag me back to the water saying I’m a curse to everyone. I pleaded for him to release me and the water had…” Marinette choked back a sob.

“Take your time, hun”

“Alya, I’ve never seen so many sharks at that beach before! It was like… they couldn’t wait to eat me! And that lightning; it was like it was calling them and the water was going crazy! I was so scared, he dragged me to the water’s edge and I thought, this is it, I’m going to die so I scratched him really hard and he kicked me in my side! It hurt so bad that I couldn’t breathe. He was about to kick me again but he screamed and fell next to me… dead.”

“What!?”

“I promise you, I didn’t kill him. There was a giant fork thingy stuck in his back and the fork thingy made burned holes”

Alya pulled a notepad out of her pocket and gave it to Marinette.

“Do you think you could draw that fork thingy?”

Marinette Nodded and proceed to draw it. When she was done she gave it back to Alya.

“Oh, Wow!” Alya said as she stared at the picture.

“Oh, wow what?” Marinette questioned.

“Girl, that’s a Trident! That’s a freakin Trident! Do you know what this means?”

“Um… no?”

“Girl, have you ever watched Disney’s, the little mermaid?”

“Alya, I was never given the chance, I was left out of everything growing up in that orphanage.”

“I’m sorry, I keep forgetting how bad it was for you. Trident's are said to channel an Aquatic royals power, at least that’s what they made it look like in the movie, but anyway, if you saw this, that means the aquatic kingdom is real, mermaids are real and that the jewel of the water kingdom is real and it was really stolen! you are the only one that survived to prove it!!! I have to see it for myself, I’m so excited, we have to go back to the beach and take pictures and stuff”

“Oh nononono, I’m not going back there! They almost had me! I almost died, and I could feel eyes looking at me! They might come after me now because they saw me and I got away! I’m sorry Alya but I’m never going near that water again!” Marinette rambled in a panic.

“Don’t worry girl, Nino and I got your back, we won’t let anything hurt our girl”

“Thanks, Alya… not sure what I would do without my two best friends”

 

“We’re here!” Nino said as he parked his jeep.

“Where is...here? I feel we must move more in that direction” Adrien said as he pointed down the street.

“You know my girl Alya lives a few miles in that direction and I was planning on meeting up with her later”

“You must take me with you”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good Idea dude, I think you need to see a doctor first and definitely gets some clothes on your body.”

“If I see this… doc… tor, and put these clothes on that you speak of, will you then take me with you?”

Nino wasn’t sure he wanted to do that. This guy could be a creep or something worse. He didn’t want to put his friend in that kind of danger. But then again, he looked like he needed a friend and since he wasn’t from around the area, maybe he didn’t know about Marinette and people thinking she was a curse. Marinette did need more friends and he wasn’t a bad looking guy either.

“Let me call my friend first to see if it okay with her”


	3. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien runs into problems while looking for the Jewel

 

 

       

 

 

“I don’t want to get you in trouble, your mom keeps looking out of the window at me” Marinette said sadly.

“Okay Mari, just try to call me next time and I’ll meet you at the park or something; I don’t want you to get in trouble either, this neighborhood can get really crazy sometimes”

“I know, some of your neighbors down the street saw me coming and grabbed their kids that was outside playing and pulled them in the house”

“Really? What did they think you were going to do to them?”

“I don’t know Alya, I’m just tired of all this, maybe I should have just let those sharks eat me”

“Oh my gosh, Mari… don’t say that!”

“It’s true Alya” Marinette wiped her watery eyes. “Sometimes I just wish it was all over so I would stop feeling this way… like a part of me is missing, like maybe the people are right about me”

“Well, their wrong! You hear me, Marinette… wrong! You have to show them that you’re better than they are! That you’re not going anywhere and Nino and I will always stand by your side no matter what!”

“Alya, I know you mean well, but you still have to listen to your mom”

“ALYA!” Her mom yelled.

“I guess that means your time is up, Alya”

“Yeah, I guess so” Alya gave Marinette a big hug.

“AHEM!!”

“Yeah mom I get it!” Alya yelled toward the house.

“See you, Alya”

“Hey, meet me at the park tomorrow at 4:00” Alya whispered.

“Okay” Marinette whispered back and smiled.

 

Adrien frowned as he looked at the fish tank in the doctor’s office. He didn’t like seeing the aquatic life caged in a small glass box, they should be free to roam the ocean.

“Well, doc… I found him at the beach walking around naked and he seems to like to drink the salty ocean water, he even took some to go, all he’s been talking about was finding the Jewel of the water kingdom.” Nino whispered to the doctor as Adrien looked around the hospital room.

“He actually went in the water?”

“Oh no, he just got scary close to it like it didn’t even phase him”

“I’ll check his blood to see if he’s on something; does he have a next of kin?”

“I don’t have a clue, I thought if I brought him here, you’d know what to do with him.”

“Well, let’s start by asking him some questions, shall we?”

“Sure doc, but don’t be surprise if his answers have you scratching your head.”

“Hello…?” the doctor started...

 

       

 

 

“Doc… He answers to um… Dude; I’m not sure what his real name is”

“Hello Dude, I’m Doctor Carl Bay… Do you have another name?” The doctor held his hand out to shake but Nino pushed his hand down.

“Trust me Doc, you don’t want to shake his hand.”

Adrien looked at the two males and thought for a moment, if Nino was going to be helpful to him then maybe he could trust this Carl Bay Doctor a little.

“You may call me... Ah-dri-yune”

“Adrien, what a nice name” the doctor said as he wrote it on his clip board.

Adrien looked at the Doctor funny and then looked at Nino. Nino had an awkward smile on his face, probably because the doctor didn’t pronounce the name the same way the blonde did.

“So, Adrien… do you have a last name?”

“What is a... last name?” Adrien questioned.

The Doctor tapped his clipboard and then wrote…

_Patient doesn’t remember his last name, possible concussion or amnesia._

“Can you tell me where you live, Adrien?” the doctor questioned.

“I live close to 19.8968 degrees North and 155.5828 degrees west”

The doctor looked at Adrien squarely. When he looked at the seriousness of his expression, he pulled out his phone and typed in the numbers.

“So, you’re from Hawaii?” The Doctor asked.

Adrien just shrugged his shoulders. The humans did not need to know the exact location of the water kingdom. The entire ocean was his home.

“Can you step on the scale please?”

Adrien looked at his bottom half and then the floor. He turned in a complete circle to look at the ground around him.

“I see no scale” Adrien responded. His scales where still protectively tucked away.

The doctor ran his hand down his face and turned his pen light on. He didn’t know if Adrien was serious or if he was playing a joke and was wasting his time.

“Son, I would like you to follow my finger so I can look at your eyes”

“I do not understand, are you not looking at my eyes right now?”

“I want to see _behind_ your eyes to see if you have head trauma”

A nurse comes into the room at that moment with a needle in her hand to draw blood.

“Oh, my Cod! Is that a harpoon? I have haddock enough of this!”

The doctor and Nino looked at each other and then back to Adrien. Nino tried his best to hold in his laughter. He covered it up by coughing a few times and the doctor gave Nino a pointed stare.

“Adrien, it’s just a needle to draw some blood so we can figure out how to help you, it’s not a harpoon”

“I trout that very much! I bait you are just trying to catch me!” Adrien started to pace around angrily.

“Adrien, just calm down, we are all your friends here”

“That’s a load of scallops! Nino, I’ve done as you asked, please take me to the way of the Alya friend!”

The doctor wrote on the clipboard…

_Patient uses fish metaphors, possible drug use, not sure how to help him because he refuses examination and is becoming a little hostile. There is a possibility that the patient may need to be sedated to obtain further testing._

“Nurse, can you bring me the lorazepam please” the doctor whispered to the nurse.

The nurse nodded, left and came back a few minutes later. The doctor was preparing the sedative when Adrien caught sight of the needle and the doctor filling it with something.

Adrien backed away from the doctor as the doctor approached him with the needle.

“Now you dare to harpoon me?”

“Son, you’re clearly under a lot of stress and this is just to help you relax”

“I need to find the Jewel of the water kingdom, I cannot do this relax thing you speak of!”

“Nino, will you wait outside the door please… this should only take a moment.” The Doctor relayed.

“Yes, sirrr” Nino drawled as he stepped outside the room and closed the door.

“What current have you sent him on?” Adrien glared angrily.

“Are you speaking of a sea current? He’s just outside the door, I just need you to calm down, Adrien.”

The doctor grabbed Adrien’s arm and tried to sedate him but Adrien was quick to stop him by grabbing his wrist and squeezing it hard enough that the Doctor dropped the needle.

“Explain! Adrien demanded as his hand started to burn the doctor’s wrist.

 

       

 

 

“Your hand is getting hot!” the doctor gritted his teeth. “What…what are you!”

“Explain!!” Adrien said again as he pointed to the syringe on the floor.

“It’s medicine to help you sleep for a while, that’s all!”

“How does the harpoon work?!”

“Ahh, you’re burning me…” the doctor yelped in pain and then he noticed the weird reflection that Adrien’s eyes gave off, similar to the fish in his aquarium. “Are you from the ocean?!”

Adrien tilted his head to study the Doctor.

“YES… I AM, AND YOU MUST EXPLAIN HOW THAT HARPOON WORKS OR I WILL LET MY POWERS BURN YOU ALIVE!!!”

“Y-You push the pointy end in your arm and you push the medicine in from the other side!” The doctors voice trembled in fear and he could tell he was going to have a 3rd degree burn on his wrist.

Adrien picked up the Syringe and injected the medicine into the doctor’s arm. The doctor yelped and then slid to the floor asleep. Adrien squatted down to look over the Doctor to see what effect that medicine had on him. The Doctor did seem more relaxed and sleeping peacefully so Adrien grabbed the other empty syringe and medicine and walked out of the door and closed it behind him. He saw Nino sitting in a chair and walked over to him.

“We leave now!” Adrien demanded.

“Dude… I mean… Adrien, I can call you Adrien, right? I thought the doctor was going to…”

“No… I’m fine, yes you may call me Adrien, we go now” Adrien insisted.

“Okay, so what did he say?” Nino asked as they headed out of the hospital.

“He said… Ahh!” Adrien shrugged while continuing his walk to the jeep.

Nino stopped walking for a moment and looked back at the hospital doors. He was going to go back in to speak to the doctor but Adrien was already climbing into the jeep. Whatever went on in that hospital room wasn’t technically his business so he let it go.

 

* * *

 

 

Prior to leaving the hospital.

“Hey Alya”

“Hey Nino, what’s going on?”

“I wanted to know if you’re busy because I’d like you and Mari to meet someone”

“Well, I don’t mind but Mari just left a half an hour ago”

“Wait, she came to your house?”

“Yeah, she was pretty upset, she said something happened at the beach after we left”

“Is she okay? If I know your family…”

“It was bad, Nino… it was really bad”

“Well, if you don’t mind, do you want some company? You can tell me all about it when I get there.”

“Sure, I could use some company”

“Cool, be there in a little while.”

 

* * *

 

 

Marinette walked home; she had her head down most of the way. She had so many unwanted mean stares the moment she left Alya’s backyard, sometimes she just brushed it off after dealing with it for so long. Other times, she just held in the hurt and just cried when she was alone.

She was half way to the orphanage when she heard some familiar cat calls and racial slurs. No doubt from the same two males that hung with Chloe. Nathaniel and Kim. Nathaniel always splashed her with paint and Kim would always push her to the ground and call her names. She could hear their footsteps moving faster in her direction and she picked up the pace as well.

 

       

 

 

“Oh, come on Smurfette, don’t you wanna play with us?”

“I think her blue is showing, isn’t that right blueberry? I have some black dye stain that would fix that for you!”

Marinette walked faster.

“Hey, are you trying to ditch us so you could get back to the orphanage where nobody wants you?!”

The two boys laughed.

Marinette took off running and the two started running after her in a game of cat and mouse. It wasn’t like she could outrun them; her lungs/gills hurt. Kim cut her off through some brush and landed in front of her and she faceplanted into his chest and she fell back onto the ground and hit her head on a rock.

“Stop!” Adrien demanded of Nino when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. Nino slammed on the breaks and Adrien Jumped out the jeep and ran into the woods like a madman. Nino never saw anyone run as fast as the blonde which only piqued his curiosity to follow him. So, he parked the jeep and ran after him.

 

       

 

 

“Do it man, no one will say anything! In fact, we might get the key to the city!”

“Naw Kim… you do it! I might spray her with paint every once in a while, but I won’t kill her, even if she is a curse”

“Fine! I’ll handle it then!”

Marinette sat up slowly, her head hurt and her vision was blurry. She could slightly make out Kim approaching her with something so she tried to crawl away.

“Where are you going? I’m going to put you out of your misery!”

Kim grabbed Marinette by her hair and Marinette yelped in pain. Her vision became even more blurred as the pain increased.

Kim raised a large rock and was about to strike her in the head with it but he dropped it when someone grabbed his wrist; Marinette ran away.

“What the…” Kim started to question and then screamed like a girl when his wrist began to blister under the hand that grabbed him.”

“You hurt what belongs to me?! Now I hurt you!!!”

 

       

 

 

“AHHHH… NATH HELP ME!!!!” Kim cried out.

Nathaniel picked up a big stick and swung it at Adrien but as soon as he did, Adrien raise his other hand to it and turned it to ash.

Nathaniel looked into the blonde’s eyes and when the blonde stared back and furrowed his brows…

“You stay… human; you are next!”

 

       

 

 

Nathaniel pissed in his pants and took off running back to the clearing. On his way out, he ran straight into Nino and they both fell to the ground.

“Dang dude! Where’s the fire?!” Nino hissed as he stood up and brushed his clothes off.

“Nino! Help him! I-I can’t go back in there! That thing will kill me! Kim… oh my gosh! Kim… he’s probably dead already!”

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

“AHHHHHH!!!!!!” came a scream from the woods.

“What was that!” Nino yelled as he grabbed Nathaniel forcefully by his shirt.

“That thing has Kim! And, and, and probably has your friend Marinette, too!”

“Mari? Marinette’s in there?! You and Kim were trying to hurt her again weren’t you!!”

“….”

“WERE’NT YOU!!” Nino demanded.

“What if we were!”

Nino hauled off and punched Nathaniel in the face and then knocked him to the ground.

“You piece of crap, Marinette is not the reason the people can’t use the water, it was your dad’s fault!”

“How… who…”

“It doesn’t take a genius to find out that your dad was the Diver that stole the Jewel of the water kingdom! Where is it Nathaniel?”

“How should I know!” I was just a little kid when that happened and I just found out the truth a year ago. My mom changed our names and she never told me!”

Nino and Nathaniel heard footsteps coming their way. Nathaniel’s fear came back in full force and he broke free of Nino and ran away as fast as he could.

 

       

 

 

“Nino… “ Adrien said in frustration, the red head ran off and the jewel got away again.

“Hey Dude… where did you run off to? And did you happen to hear where that scream came from?”

"Yes, in there but it was nothing." Adrien pointed in the direction to where Kim lay crying like a baby.

"Why did you jump out of the Jeep and run like a mad man? doesn't you feet hurt with no shoes on?"

“The Jewel… I was after the Jewel but the jewel disappeared once more before I could stake my claim as you humans call it and no, these feet feel no pain and I will only require them a little while longer.”

Nino quirked an eye, what person would only require feet for a little while?

“Humans now huh? What about the loud scream?”

“Oh, Yes… I _caused_ ; the loud scream” Adrien said simply.

“Dude, you scream like a female, did you happen to see a girl back there?”

“A girl?” Adrien questioned. He saw no girl. He saw his mermaid, his other half, hurt and upset, which only fuel his anger toward the human male. He made Kim regret what he did, he left him crying like a baby with a painful reminder around his wrist every time he looked at it. A deep burn that would leave a scar in the shape of Adrien’s hand.

“Yeah… she’s about this small with um… blue hair?” Nino said softly, not sure if the blonde would judge his friend for her hair color.

“This _girl_ you speak of with blue hair, she ran away and I would like to find her”

“Yeah, me too; I hope she went back to Alya’s”

“This Alya, human…  knows her?”

“Yeah Dude… we both do, Marinette is our best friend”

“Marinette?” Adrien questioned. His mates aquatic name was actually Marinetteneya.

Nino noticed that Adrien’s face morphed into something he didn’t understand. He looked confused, hurt, possibly angry, maybe a bit relieved? It was hard to tell.

“I would like to see this Alya, now!” Adrien glared ominously and Nino wanted to change his mind about taking Adrien with him.

“Adrien… did you happen to see Kim back there in the woods?”

“What is… Kim?”

“More like a who, he’s a tall guy, kind of built with black hair and blonde highlights on top?”

“Yes, I… frightened him, he was trying to hurt the girl with blue hair; he won’t hurt her anymore”

“You… scared, KIM? I’m impressed, Dude.”

“The other human male with orange hair; did he take the current this way?”

“You must be talking about Nathaniel, yeah he ran this way and right into me! what do you want with him?”

“He _ran_ as you put it, away from me after I commanded him to… stay”

“You can’t command anyone to do anything around here. So, what does that matter now?”

Adrien became a little angry with Nino. He couldn’t understand the reason why Nino was so passive with the red heads abuse of the jewel when he claimed to call her his best friend.

“Do you not want to punish the male that hurt **_your_ _best friend_?”**

“Sure, I do, but I can’t just punish him when I have no proof that he did anything wrong”

“Are my words not enough for you to punish him?”

“I’m sorry Adrien, but laws around here require that you have some serious proof that someone committed a crime before justice can be served. Don’t you have laws where you come from?”

“Where I come from, my word **_is_** law and justice is always served.”

Nino stood completely dumbfounded. The more he listened to Adrien, the less he believed the blonde was crazy. Now he seemed scarier and hinted that he might be a very important person if his word was law where he came from. What kind of justice was he even talking about? Nevertheless, he followed the blonde as they walked back to the jeep. They got in and proceeded to Alya’s place. Nino made a quick stop at the sweets store to get something for Alya. He hadn’t expected to run into Chloe while he was going in. Adrien went as well because he didn’t like the fowl smell coming from cars.

“So, what brings the loser here” Chloe said snidely.

“Not in the mood, Chloe; go crawl back under your daddy’s shoe”

“You know, I could just as well be highly offended and take my anger out on a certain blue haired bimbo!”

“Leave Marinette alone Chloe! She never did anything to you!”

 

       

 

 

“She stopped me from getting my sea salt scrub! She stopped me from eating lobster and shrimp! She stopped my family from taking our yacht out on the water! Don’t tell me that she’s done nothing to me!” Chloe flailed her arms and ranted.

Adrien walked up behind Chloe while she was ranting and she didn’t notice. But Nino took notice at how Adrien glared at the girl. Looking at her from head to toe and then back up again.

“You okay Dude?”

“No” Adrien replied. As his eyes never left the back of the girl’s head.

Chloe turned around at the sound of Adrien’s voice.  She couldn’t quite place the voice but she was sure it was something she heard before, even in a dream maybe.

“So, who’s this? Please tell me you’re not with that loser!”

Chloe looked at the handsome blonde but the way he stared at her, she felt uncomfortable. It sent chills up her spine and she knew she was going to regret what she said earlier.

“Nino, please return to your… jeep; I’ll be with you in a moment”

“Sure thing Dude… you can handle that spoiled brat”

Nino left the store and Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. She was about to open her mouth to flirt with him but…

“Why do you blame the blue haired girl and call her a _bimbo_ when it is my father and I who prevent you from eating our lobster, obtaining our sea salt, or allowing you to use this yacht thing on our waters?”

Chloe gulp, it was almost the same voice, but the one she heard was much older than the one that she heard when she was 4 and Marinette was 2. The voice cried out, looking for something that was stolen. The voice that cursed the people from using the waters until whatever was stolen was returned to the waters. Everyone said her mother could hear things so they put her away thinking she was mental. When Chloe started hearing the voice she became afraid and didn't tell anyone.

She assumed a couple of years later that Marinette was the curse so she tried the drown her to stop the curse. It made sense to her since she had the dream the same night that Marinette was brought to the orphanage.

“Y-You, y-your f-f-f-from… y-your f-f-f-father is th-the water k-king??”

Adrien, never removing his eyes from Chloe, nodded his head.

“A-are you going to k-kill me?”

“Well, I came here to recover the jewel of the water kingdom. I will deal with this blue haired bimbo as you called her but be warned female; you will never again cross her path or you will deal with me!”

Adrien took her phone and in front of her eyes, turned it to ash making Chloe back away in fear.

“Do you… understand?”

Chloe frantically nodded her head. She looked up at the blonde just when the sunlight hit his eyes and they flickered like underwater green emeralds.

“Wh- what are you going to do to her?”

“That is not important, I said I would deal with her, do you know where she might be?”

“What will you give me if I told you where she stays? Surely your kingdom has wealth and treasure.” Chloe smirked, feeling like she had him at a disadvantage.

“Your life!” Adrien threatened. How dare she try to barter something from him just to give him information on his princess that was stolen from him.

Adrien held up his hand and a ball of energy danced in his palm.

“Tell me where she stays and I won’t kill you!”

“Y-you won’t kill me; my father is the mayor!”

“What is a human mayor that has no reign or power on the aquatic kingdom? A kingdom that can destroy your dry land and people if I commanded a tsunami!”

Chloe felt real stupid, this man was the prince of all the waters and she had the gall to think her father’s title or little power meant something to him.

“M-Marinette stays at the orphanage!” Chloe whimpered when Adrien’s hand came close to her face.

Adrien closed his hand and put his arm down.

“Thank you” Adrien nodded and left Chloe who fell to her knees and cried hysterically the moment Adrien and Nino pulled away from the store.

“Are you okay Adrien? You’ve been very quiet since we left the store.”

“That Chloe female doesn’t seem very nice and I didn’t like the way she spoke about… _your best friend_.”

“Yeah, she’s been like that for as long as I can remember, no one likes her but they put up with her because her dad is the mayor.”

“Why won’t anyone destroy her?”

Nino slammed on the brakes.

“What? Are you kidding dude? Are you saying someone should kill her?” Nino asked shocked.

“Where I come from, if you are a constant problem that disrupts everything and everyone around you then you are put away”

“That sounds pretty harsh dude!”

“Harsh? My people are happy and peaceful, we have not had any problems for as long as I can remember because we are all family. That diver… did you not feel like his punishment was just?”

Nino started driving again.

“Well, I really can’t say because I was a kid when that happened. Secondly, I don’t even know what the jewel of the water kingdom is or if it merits killing someone; but, if the water king had that diver killed, then it must be something extremely priceless to them.”

“So, you are telling me that you choose a punishment based on the crime?”

“Yeah, that’s about right.”

“Can they go out and repeat their bad behavior and receive no punishment?”

“Sure, the only people that really get into trouble are murderers, but people who steal stuff can go to jail and be out in as little as a couple of days if they have a good lawyer”

“I understand now why the diver was put to death”

“Oh yeah? Why is that?

“Because your people won’t do what it takes to stop problems before problem starts.”

“Dude, maybe you should be the new mayor of the people.”

“I’m sorry, but I must be going home within two days with the Jewel to rule my own people”

 

* * *

 

 

 When Marinette made it back to the orphanage, no one was there and the doors were locked. She looked at the time and found that she was late so they locked her out. She sighed and walked away, there would be no food to eat tonight so she went to the abandoned barn that she hung out at, changed and crawled into the tent that Nino gave her and fell asleep.

 

       

 


	4. who's your friend?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya is introduced to Adrien and things spiral down from there.

 

“Hey Nino, who’s your friend?”

“This is Adrien, he’s uh… on a mission to find the Jewel of the water kingdom.”

“Didn’t you tell him that the jewel is a made-up fairy tale?” Alya whispered as she watched the blonde walk around the game room. “And why is he wearing your dad’s shirt and walking barefoot?”

“Boo, it’s a long story; please don’t ask because he’ll have you scratching your head”

Adrien walked up to Alya and invaded her personal space. Nino became a little defensive but paused to see what the blonde would do. Adrien grabbed her wrist and she yelped in surprise and he brought her arm to his nose and he sniffed it.

 

      

 

 

“Dude! What the hell are you doing?! Don’t be grabbing my girl like that!”

“Where is she?” the blonde spoke to Alya after he let her arm go. He was looking to see if his princess would emerge from somewhere.

“And who are you talking about?” Alya answered coldly.

“The female with the blue hair, you smell of her, where is she?!”

“She’s not here, she left a while ago, what do you want with her?” Alya questioned

“Where did she go… a while ago?” Adrien furrowed his eyes. He was getting agitated at constantly missing the princess. 

“Okay, I’m not answering anymore of your questions until you tell me who you are and what you want with my girl!”

“She is not … _your girl_ and who I am is not important right now, I must find the jewel and put the jewel underwater”

Adrien had his back to them so he didn’t see Nino give Alya the _‘he’s looney’_ gesture.

“She’s not yours either!” Alya huffed. “and where she is, is frankly none of your business!”

“Human female, you should do well as to not anger me… tell me where she is!”

“Adrien, Dude! Chill man… I’m with Alya on this, you don’t even know Marinette, why do you want to know where she is so bad?”

“Both of you humans are trying to keep me from the jewel of the water kingdom!”

“Dude! No ones trying to keep you from the jewel! You’re more than welcome to it if you ever find it!”

“Nino, why is he calling **_us_** humans like he’s not?” Alya whispered to Nino.

 “Babe, I don’t even know”

“The female with blue hair, I need to find her!” Adrien grabbed Alya’s arm again harshly.

“I’m sorry, _(Alya jerked her arm away from the blonde)_ but you’re definitely going to have to leave now, I don’t know who you are, where you came from and well; you’re creepy as hell grabbing my arm like you just lost your freaking mind!”

“Not until you tell me where she is!” Adrien growled. His growl sounded like rolling thunder and it scared both Nino and Alya.

“What the actual heck Dude! Alya’s right! You’re not who I thought you was, we won’t tell you where she is no matter what! You’re acting pretty scary and you might be here to hurt Marinette, you really should leave now before we call the police!”

“I should have known! You two are just like that diver that stole the Jewel of the water kingdom, humans can’t be trusted and this will happen to you and everyone else if I don’t get the jewel!” Adrien grabbed a pool ball and held it between his finger and thumb. It burst into flames and then it turned into a pile of ash right before their eyes. The two jumped away in fear, holding onto each other.

 

      

 

 

“If she’s not here, the Chloe female said she’s at... the... or-phan-age; I will go there!” Adrien left the house, leaving the two in shock.

“Wow… He’s… not human!” Nino whispered to Alya.

“You think?!” Alya hissed. “And he’s after Marinette!”

“Why do you think he wants to know where she is so bad, it’s not like _she_ knows where the jewel of the water kingdom is?”

“Oh… my… gosh!!! She told me earlier that she fell asleep on the beech and something grabbed her ankle and tried to pull her in the water. She said a man came to her aid but later he tried to drag her into the water and the water was filled with creatures waiting to eat her!” Alya began to shake.

“She was afraid they would come after her because she touched the water and got away from whatever grabbed her. She said the man that tried to drag her to the water was stabbed with a trident and killed”

“Wait!... I saw a man laying face down on the beach when I ran into Adrien. The way he was laying did seem weird but I didn’t think to check him out. Adrien was walking on the beach naked and when asked where he was from, he just gave the Doctor coordinates to somewhere out in the ocean!”

“Do you really think he’s from the ocean?”

“Alya… he talked in fish metaphors! He thought the doctor was going to harpoon him with a needle!”

“Oh no! Marinette was right, he’s here to kill her because she touched the water; we have to warn her!”

“Alya, I think you’re right, he said when his people do something wrong, they do away with them, he even thought Chloe should be killed!”

“No way!” Alya said in disbelief.

Nino’s face paled. “Alya, he said he has to leave in two days to rule his people, I think he’s the water kings son!”

“He’s not a fish… maybe he’s just fooling us!”

“Look at pool cue… he turned it to ash; I don’t doubt he’s the water kings son”

Alya didn’t need to hear anymore, she headed to the door…

“Alya, where are you going?”

“We Nino… _we_ , are going to find Marinette first and warn her before he finds her and does who knows what!”

Nino and Alya ran outside to his jeep and was about to jump in. Unfortunately, Adrien got to the jeep first.

“Son of a… are you kidding me?!” Nino yelled in anger. The steering column was partially melted. “oh Mann... I’m still making payments!”

“What are we going to do now? My mom is at work and no one will let us use their car.”

“What about your moped? Do you still have one? The orphanage is about two miles from here and we could take a short cut so we could get there before he does.”

“Good Idea!” Alya yelled as she ran into the garage and pulled out her bike.

Adrien found himself walking down a road that he was told was the direction of the orphanage.  He prayed and hoped that his princess would be there. He hadn't sensed her in awhile and he began to worry. He felt hurt that Nino wasn't keeping his promise and his faith in humans were now gone.

 

      

 

 

It was pretty late in the evening and the two shouldn’t have been out, but they loved Marinette and didn’t want anything to happen to her. So, when they saw the blonde ahead of them walking in the direction of the orphanage, they cut through the woods to save some time. At least they had a chance to warn her now.

 

      

 

 

When they arrived at the building, all the lights were off and as much as they banged on the door and yelled her name, no one answered.

“Where is she!” Alya hissed “She said she was coming back here”

“Is there anywhere else she could be?” Nino questioned while looking around. “Answer quickly Alya, the guy is coming this way!”

“I don’t know! All she ever talked about was this place and how mean everyone is”

“I did give her a portable tent; do you think she’s in the woods using it?”

“I don’t know but we got to go now!”

Nino and Alya went around the side of the orphanage to hide from Adrien. They stuck around long enough to see him turn the door to ash and then disappear inside. A few minutes later he came out angrier than before. Through his anger, he began touching and destroying random things as he tried to calm down. To them it was scary and fascinating to see the dark power emitting from his hands before whatever he touched became a pile of ash. Adrien started to worry, he knew his time was getting short because the burning in his hands started going up his arms. He had the Trident to channel the power but he left it with the guard. Now his only option was just to grit his teeth and bare it as it forced its way out.

Adrien raised his hands skyward and let a roar rip from his chest. His hands began to emit sparks and then lightning went out from his hands a went skyward.

 

      

 

 

“Oh crap! Did you see that Nino?!” He’s definitely from the water and those weird bolts of lightning from the water came from him!”

“Okay, I can dig it but if he’s really from the water, shouldn’t he be like a merman or something and have a fish tail?”

“Maybe that’s why he said he was leaving in two days? Maybe he has to go back to the water”

“WHERE. IS. SHE!!” Adrien yelled as he shot another bolt of lightning at the two trying to hide by the building.

 

         

 

  

Nino and Alya dove on the ground and scurried away to safety.

“IF YOU DO NOT GIVE HER TO ME I WILL DESTROY YOU AND SEND A TSUNAMI TO THIS LAND!!!

“Nino… out of all the people in the world to meet, you just happen to bring Prince temper tantrum to my doorstep!”

“Give me a break… he was naked and I thought he needed help; he wasn’t wearing a tag that said _‘I’m the prince of the ocean, bow down to me or I’ll kill you!_ ”

“If he wasn’t such a jerk, I’d politely ask him if we could use the water again to fish and swim”

“Are you kidding me? You did not just suggest asking him if we could eat his relatives! Besides, he’s not going to listen to anyone until he most likely kills Marinette and finds the jewel of the water kingdom.”

 

* * *

 

Marinette tossed and turned in the tent. She slept peacefully until she heard a thunderous growl and the crack of lightning. Normally she wouldn’t be afraid, but it sounded so close and not near the water like it usually is. The growl was something new that she hadn’t heard before. It sent a shiver down her spine and the sensation of tingling in her legs, like bugs crawling all over her bottom half. She jumped up and out of the tent; fearing the tent had an infestation. To her surprise, the sensation never left her legs and they began to feel almost like jelly; where standing was almost difficult.

“What’s happening to me?” Marinette whined as she fell to her knees. She made her way back into the tent and waited for the sensation to subside. Marinette became more depressed now that her stomach started to growl from hunger. She knew she couldn’t possibly go back to sleep now and cursed under her breath for not being prepared for moments like this. It wasn’t the first time she was locked out of the orphanage, but Alya always had her back and would sneak food out of the house and meet up somewhere to give it to her. But it was different now, Alya didn’t know of the abandoned barn; it was for her own safety just in case she was followed by someone, therefore putting Marinette’s life in danger while she slept. Marinette wasn’t a fool, she knew the whole town wanted to be rid of her one way or another and they wouldn’t be shocked, surprised, or even cared if she ended up dead or missing. Another pang of hunger hit Marinette and she folded in on herself, groaning under her breath.

“I can’t deal with this all night! I need to find some food! She groaned and made her way to stand once more. Her legs were a bit more stable and that was good enough for her.

“Now let me think for a moment, it’s 9 p.m. and it’s dark. The nearest place that I can find food is about a mile from here. If I run… _I can’t run_ ; If I walk it will take me a half an hour to get there and a half an hour to get back. But that’s only if I can even get any food… ugh!”

Marinette changed her clothes and put a hat on. As long as she covered up, she’d be less noticeable. Marinette made her way to the road and began her walk back towards the town.

 

      

 

 

Meanwhile….

Adrien doubled over in pain. He rubbed his stomach at the weird twisting sensation. He knew it was his princess and that something was wrong with her. He looked over in Alya and Nino’s direction as they took off on the moped and he hissed. He did not have time to be concerned with them anymore. Not when he could feel his princess close by now. He couldn’t wait to find her and get back to the water. So, he made his way back toward the road.

“Nino, wait!”

“Woman… I _really_ don’t want to stick around here and end up cremated!”

“But look, he’s leaving and going back toward the road.”

“So, let him!”

“Nino, we need to see where he’s going just in case he finds Marinette!”

“Alya, he doesn’t know where she is!” Nino huffed as he continued riding the moped.

“And neither do we! He might run into her before we do.”

“Dude, I don’t want to die getting in the way of that thing!”

“I don’t want to die either; Marinette should have a fighting chance but she won’t if we don’t warn her and I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t at least try. We are her only friends in this forsaken city and if we don’t try to help her then we were never her friends to begin with.”

Nino stopped the moped…

“I know you’re right, Alya… you always are and Marinette _is_ my friend so we _will_ try and save her no matter what.”


	5. Desperation on both sides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Nino race to find Marinette and Adrien gets angry

 

Nino and Alya desperately tried to find Marinette as they rode back down the road. The thought of that creature finding her before they did had their nerves on end. They knew he was only a short distance behind them and they had the advantage of being on a moped, but that wouldn’t matter if he found her first. Even the distance away from him was quite questionable since his lightning could stretch far enough to reach them.

Adrien felt his stomach twisting more the closer he came to the jewel. He also started to feel an ache in his chest. A sure sign of the jewels labored breathing. Adrien became agitated at the thought of Nino lying to him and even more so that his female refused to tell him where his princess was. Did they _want_ her to die? They claimed to be her friend yet they weren’t taking the necessary steps to save her life!

“MARI-NEYA!!” Adrien growled loudly in hopes that she would respond. “WHERE ARE YOU!!”

Marinette stopped abruptly from walking. She heard someone yelling a name that was similar to hers.  She was curious to know who could be yelling this late in the evening and were they actually yelling for her?

“Hello? … who’s there?” Marinette responded.

 

      

 

Adrien picked up her voice and started running toward it.

“MARINETTE!!! DON’T ANSWER HIM! RUN TOWARD THE SOUND OF MY VOICE; YOU’RE IN GRAVE DANGER!!!”

Marinette heard Alya's voice and didn’t have to be told twice. She couldn’t run because her chest hurt but that wasn’t going to stop her from picking up the pace.

Adrien growled in anger. The two humans were really getting on his nerves.

“MARI-NEYA!!... COME TO ME!!!!” Adrien screamed as he tried to descend on her.

“HURRY MARI!!! HE WANTS TO KILL YOU!!!!” Nino screamed.

Adrien shot a bolt of lightning in the direction of Nino’s voice.

 

      

 

How could he lie like that! Why would he want to kill the jewel? He would die as well because they’re tied to each other. One could not live without the other.  

Marinette could see her friends ahead on the road as she hurried in their direction. She could hear foot steps behind her and they were close. She pushed herself harder knowing she would regret it later.

The lightning bolt arced around Marinette and came within inches of Nino and Alya.

 

       

 

The terror on their faces was obvious. Marinette was freaking out as well because she couldn’t understand why she didn’t get hit when she was in the direct path of the lightning strike. Her fears crept back in her mind all at once as to what was after her; whatever grabbed her in the water.

“Nonono… it found me!” Marinette whimpered to herself as she came to the road. She could see the anxiety on her friends faces as they contemplated how they could ride three people on a two-seater moped. The running footsteps was getting way too close and Nino could see the blonde mop of hair through the brush just a few hundred feet away. Without thinking about his safety, he jumped off the moped…

“Get Mari to a safe place!” He yelled to Alya and helped Marinette on the bike. Marinette took a moment to cough and she spit up a few drops of blood that landed on the dirt road. Alya put her foot to the pedal and drove off and Nino ran further into the woods to hide.

 

      

 

Adrien broke through the clearing and saw blood on the ground. He saw them and ran down the road after them but the moped was too fast and he couldn’t keep up.

“UAAAHHH!!!!!” Adrien cried and fell to his knees. “MARI-NEYA!!!!!”

 

      

 

 

At the sound of Adrien’s roar, Marinette slumped onto Alya’s back. Her legs felt numb and tingly like they were waking up after falling asleep. Her breathing became ragged and her vision clouded from lack of enough air. She was too weak to even wipe the blood from her mouth.

 

      

 

“Alya… I can’t… breathe” Marinette labored.

“Hold on Mari… I just need to get you somewhere safe”

“What’s happening, Alya?”

“Mari… I don’t want to scare you but that was the Aquatic king’s son and he’s after you.”

“Why… me?” Marinette cried on Alya’s back.

“I don’t know but there’s two possibilities, 1; you got away from them when they tried to pull you in the water and they want to finish what they started or 2; he thinks you have the jewel of the water kingdom that was stolen from them.”

“Why would they think that? That doesn’t make any sense”

“I don’t know why they would think that, but that thing has repeated over and over that he wanted to find you and he would kill anyone that stood in his way!”

“I’m…. I’m going to die, aren’t I?” Marinette asked sadly. “They’re going to kill me and then eat me”

“He’s not going to kill you, he has to find you first and I have the perfect place for that.”

“Can you find me some food first? I don’t feel very well”

“Girl, you know me… I gotcha covered; I just hope Nino is okay right now.”

 

* * *

 

 

Adrien still on his knees; panted and watched as his princess disappeared down the road. He touched the blood with his index finger and a lone tear ran down his cheek. He was so close. So, gut wrenchingly close to saving her and himself. He didn’t know what to do now, those two would take her somewhere and hide her until she died. Then he would die and the entire aquatic kingdom would follow. All he could think of now was the underwater stones that held carvings in the aquatic language about his and her birth. 200 years she was foretold to arrive at the same time of his birth. The whole kingdom rejoiced and especially her mother and father who was blessed by the sea oracle and was told that because of their kind hearts, they would be the chosen merfolk to bring forth the blessed one.

The aquatic king was a little jealous and he ruled with strictness and harshness, yet his wife was the opposite and it caused her emotional pain to deal with him. He forced her to marry him because she was the most beautiful Mermaid in the kingdom and because he held a secret. Only he knew the real reason why he rejected the sea oracles counsel that he should not take her as a mate because their natures were not compatible, which would bring disorder to the child’s spirit and to the kingdom. Gabriel was king and he didn’t heed the oracles words, the sea oracle was like the supreme deity above him, yet he chose to ignore the warning. The king and queen lost 3 merchildren because of this.  The children never made it past the 8nd month because each child was not strong enough to hold within themselves the power of death and destruction. Queen Emilie sought out the sea oracle for help because she desperately wanted a child and she didn’t want to lose the one she was currently carrying. She already knew that merman Tom and his wife were chosen to be the parents of the Jewel and she would be born in the next month or so. She was happy for them but what she didn’t expect was the words the sea oracle gave her.

 

      

 

“Queen Emilie, all is not lost. I have seen your affliction. I know you were force to marry the king, yet in spite of your feelings, you chose to be yourself; to love him and others. You shall have this child and he will look of love and he will take on the beauty that you are. Scales and eyes that shimmer of the oceans emerald green and hair the color of sand. He will survive this pregnancy because he is strong and because the blessed one will be born at the same time.”

“That's amazing, that’s- that’s incredible! There would be non-other like him.”

“None other like him is true because he will hold a great sorrow, his heart will fight the part of him that is the king and he will hold chaos and destruction in his body; the kind that killed your other pregnancies.”

“Does that mean he’s the destined… destroyer?"

"He is." the oracle confirmed.

"I don’t… I can’t have this child! I am the queen! I’m not supposed to be the one to have him!”

“But you are! You were chosen the moment the king took you as his wife”

“But that wasn't my choice! Am I to suffer this when it was not my doing?”

“I’m sorry your highness. The child was to come regardless of who carried him. He will be the force that stirs the seas. That which will bring down what has been built up. He will bring death to that which has life. He will be the fear of the ocean”

Emilie started to cry.

“I won’t do it! I can't have this child!”

 “Queen Emilie, would you stop the coming of the blessed one?”

“No… we’ve been waiting for her for two hundred years and I don’t want this child around her.”

“If you try to harm him, you’ll harm the jewel because the jewel cannot be without your son.”

“My son is the jewels mate?”

“Yes”

“But how can that be?”

“Because she is creation and he is destruction and they balance each other. You cannot have all life and no death or all death and no life. It is a great honor to bring forth both of these children. They will bring peace and harmony to the oceans as long as they’re together.”

When Emilie was finished hearing the oracle's counsel, she swam up to the surface and sat on her favorite rock. She sat on it when she wanted to be alone. She cried for a while but then her spirit lightened when she felt him stir within her belly. 

"It won't be so bad if the blessed one is with him"  Emilie smiled to herself. "I shall call him Ah-dri-yune."

 

      

 

Adrien remembered the day he found out the real reason his father chose his mother after she died. Yes, she was beautiful but it was deeper than that. Gabriel knew that his way would favor being chosen to bring forth the child of destruction. He wanted it to continue his reign of fear even though he knew the child would be king. The benefit of having one of his heirs mated with the jewel was too much to pass up. Tom and Sabine possessed qualities he didn’t have. So, he went for the next best option.

Adrien hated his father for a long time because of that. He even destroyed much of what his father cherished. He couldn’t be controlled after the jewel was taken and at that time, Gabriel realized his mistake. He never accounted for a human diver to derail his plans. Gabriel had no choice but to accept defeat. The destructive side of his son would tear the ocean apart. He tried for years to get forgiveness from his son which he eventually received but what was it worth now since the jewel was taken.

Adrien snapped out of his memories when he heard a branch break. He looked up to see Nino running away from his hiding place. Adrien jumped to his feet and ran after him as fast as he could. He grabbed Nino by the back of his shirt and threw him to the ground and pinned him there.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE NOW, HUMAN!"

Nino tried to fight but Adrien was too strong. Adrien growled and brought forth a ball of destruction and held it above Nino’s head and was about to bring it down on him…

 

      

 

“Please don’t kill me!”

“Why shouldn’t I… you lied to me!”

“I- I didn’t lie! … what did I lie about?!”

“You said you would return the jewel, but you haven’t! you and your female are preventing me from putting the jewel underwater!”

“Adrien… dude, what are you talking about? we don’t… have… the jewel!”

“Stop lying to me! You and that human female had the jewel with you the whole time!”

“Mann, that’s not possible! We don’t even know what the jewel looks like!”

“AHHH!!!! Do you think I’m… stupid!”

“No… I’m not sure what you want!”

“I want… the girl …with the blue… hair!”

“No! Marinette didn’t do anything to you! Why are you trying to kill her?!”

“I’m not trying to kill her; you are!”

“Why would I want to kill her, she’s my friend and we’re trying to protect her from you!”

“Your both killing her by keeping her  _from_ me!”

“That’s not how it works dude, I know you’re the water king’s son and you’re here because you want to drag her back to the water and finish her off because she got away from you guys!”

 “Yes, I do want to take her back to the water! Because that’s where she belongs! I’m trying to put her under the water to save her!”

“Man… don’t you know that would kill her?”

“You humans understand nothing! It won’t kill her but she _will_ die soon if I don’t!”

“That doesn’t make any sense! Whatever happen to you saying you came here because you wanted to put the _jewel_ of the water kingdom underwater, Marinette doesn’t have it!”

Adrien became so angry he screamed…

“HER NAME IS MARI-NEYA; NOT MARINETTE AND SHE DOESN’T _HAVE_ THE JEWEL OF THE WATER KINGDOM, BECAUSE SHE  ** _IS_** THE JEWEL OF THE WATER KINGDOM!!”

“W-What?!”


	6. A little bit of aquatic His-story

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino's life is spared at the moment and he gets a lesson in aquatic history; well his story to be precise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a long chapter for me and I didn't do a final grammar \ spelling check so excuse it if you find any because I can't concentrate when I'm sleepy. thanks.

   

     What!?... how can that be? Marinette is human, she’s been here for like 15 years! If what you’re saying is true which I doubt, everyone believes the Jewel of the water kingdom is a precious stone like some sort of fancy expensive diamond! Not an actual living, breathing, human being.”

“She’s not one of you, you... humans, she’s a mermaid! _She’s Mine!_ ”

“Okay, I’m going to be straight up honest with you dude… that sounds so weird and look… can you do me a solid and not kill me? I really need you to get up off my stomach because you’re really heavy! I promise I won’t do anything or run away, I really want to hear what you have to say about Marinette.”

“Mari-Neya!” Adrien hissed

“Okaaay....Fine! Mari-Neya” ( _got to get use to that)_ Nino thought to himself.

“I don’t trust you Nino! You already lied to me once, if you lie to me again, I will kill you where you stand!”

Nino nodded, as scared as he was, he wanted to hear his story and anything he has to say about Marinette. He would have never guessed that he was going to get a lesson in aquatic history.

Adrien rose up off of Nino and they both stood up.

Adrien motioned for them to walk in the direction that Alya went with the Jewel and Nino took notice much to his dissatisfaction.

 

      

 

Adrien began to explain everything.

“In the beginning of time before humans walked the earth, the ocean was filled with all kinds of creatures. There was no order in the ocean and every creature did whatever they had to do to survive. When Humans appeared much later at the shores, the Merfolk’s were curious as to why you looked like us on the top but on the bottom you didn’t. We could swim and breathe water and you couldn’t, but you could walk and breathe air for long periods of time and we could only breathe air for short times before we needed water again. We never interacted with humans because we were very different and we didn’t know your language. My father can speak your language and many other languages because it was passed down through all the kings before him and he taught me.”

“Well that explains why you didn’t understand what I and the doctor said to you” Nino said as they continued to walk.

“It was many, generations later that you humans brought wooden ships to our waters and used your nets to catch our fish to eat. It was okay at that time because the seas were quite overpopulated. It wasn’t until a mermaid was caught in a net by a pirate ship by accident that the Mers realized how evil the humans were. They butchered and killed her and then tossed the top half of her body into the water and strung up the tail to dry out in the air. We found out later that her golden scales were worth money to humans. That one awful day brought fleets of ships back to catch more of my people.”

“You saw all of this yourself?” Nino questioned. He was wondering just how old Adrien was.

“No, my people keep records of our history so it can be passed down to each generation. We cannot afford to make the same mistakes our parents made in trusting humans.”

 

      

 

“Okay, what happened next?” Nino questioned.

“My people fought back, my people sung their songs; to us it is a song of love for your Mer, but they used the songs to make the humans dive into the deep to their deaths. Later, the humans retaliated with harpoons, nets, spears and sometimes cannons. When two more mermaids were captured and killed like the first; the Mers went into hiding and only went out for food in the dead of night. A merbaby looking for it’s mother was caught in a net that laid in wait… that was the day the Mers realized you humans had no soul. He was harmless, helpless, just a youngling looking for his mother when she went out to find food for him while he slept and he was treated worse than the others. Not knowing what to do, the Mers sought out the Sea Oracle…”

“Is that like a wise Merman or something?”

“More like a deity; **_She_** _,_ has been around since the waters gathered into seas and oceans and before humans walked the dry land. It is passed down to each generation that she is able to guide and bless the worthy. The Mers pleaded for her counsel because the humans began to capture and kill our sea cows…”

“That’s a Manatee, right? A chubby little whale?”

“Yes, Manatees are like nannies to the merbabies. They teach the babies how to play and move in the water correctly so they’re not mistaken for a dying sea creature and eaten by a shark. For every Manatee that was slaughtered; 20 merbabies died. A whole generation was being killed off. The sea Oracle who knows all, looked at every merman and chose a champion. He was humble and the least of the mermen but there was something inside of him that the oracle could see. A power that none of the other Mers had. That champion overpowered the great kraken, the monster of the deep sea, larger than any whale and meaner than a thousand sharks.”

“How did he do it?” Nino asked, fascinated with the story so far.

Adrien showed his hand to Nino and his hand arced of electricity.

 

      

 

“Some say he just touched the kraken with his hand and the kraken became submissive to him.” Adrien put his hand down. “He then used the kraken to attack and sink the ships that were threats to the Mers. When the danger was gone and the harpooning stopped, the Mers made him king of the Merfolk’s.”

“Well, that’s great dude… I like happy endings.”

“But, it wasn’t a happy ending… during the crowning ceremony, a merman became jealous that the Sea Oracle placed a mermaid that he began to like from afar in the hands of the king. The king was very happy with her and made her his wife and they mated that evening after the celebration.  During the night, while they slept, the merman snuck into the bed chambers and killed the king in his sleep. After he killed him he forced himself onto the king’s wife. The next morning the Mers found the dead king.

“Oh my gosh, did they kill him for killing the king and forcing himself on her?”

“No, they couldn’t; after he killed the king and mated with her, he became the new king by default because she was the queen.”

“Aw Mann, that was so wrong!”

“Yes… he was a terrible king and she had a son. No one knew who the child’s father was because the baby was too small to see and the child had eyes like his mother until he turned 3.”

“But aren’t green eyes a normal thing for your kind?”

“No, Mers tend to have silver or dark color eyes that reflect the light or their surroundings. True green like mine and true blue like Mari-Neya’s mean we possess a power inside of us and most likely the reason Mari-neya lasted this long out of the water.”

“Mari-Neya… has powers?” Nino was taken back by that bit of info.

Adrien nodded but refused to elaborate anymore on it because he didn't trust Nino so, he continued his story.

 As time went on and another son arrived, the first son looked more like the murdered king and at 3 years old the evil king sent that child out to the sea to fend for himself. He threatened to use the kraken on any Mer that helped the boy. If the queen and the Manatees didn’t train the murdered kings child in those three years of life, he would have not survived. His mother was so distraught at not seeing him again, she used sharp coral to cut into her fin in the midst of a school of sharks. The smell of blood drew so many sharks to her that the evil king was too late to save her. The king became so upset and colder after she died, that he took another mate that looked similar to his dead wife without the oracles counsel. She could never measure up even after she gave him a child. She realized things wouldn’t change when she noticed the king spending more time with his dead wife’s child and none with her and their child. So, while the favored child slept in his clam, she took him while everyone slept and put him in the den with the kraken.”

“Dude!!!”

Adrien shrugged his shoulders. “It was a dark time in Mer history.”

“Okay what happened next? The king was mad, wasn’t he? Did he feed her to the kraken after he found out what she did? I guess he kinda deserved it though.”

“Yeah, he was really mad, but he didn’t kill her for the sake of their son. He loved his first wife and that child was all he had left of her. Now his favored son was gone and he lived the rest of his life in shame because his jealousy killed the rightful king, he sent the kings child away to die, His new wife killed his favorite son and the mermaid he loved didn’t love him back and she killed herself.” The king and queen ruled harshly for 160 years and then his only son took over as the next king. The Merfolk’s hoped he’d be different than his father and mother, but he ended up being worse. That cycle of evil went on for the next 10 generations.”

“Woah, that’s like 1600 years?”

“Yes, that sounds about right.”

“I wish I knew my history like that, but I’m curious, why didn’t anyone come forth to challenge them in 1600 years?”

“They controlled the first kraken that was controlled by the good king and then controlled that kraken’s offspring after it died.”

“But you said the good king was the only one able to control it”

“True, but the bad king saw that the kraken gave birth and he took the baby. The kraken couldn’t attack him while he had her baby and it was a method each of his generations used to maintain the kraken’s loyalty.”

“What a jerk! Surely things got better at some point?”

“Not right away, two hundred years ago, the Mers once again sought the counsel of the sea oracle”

“Wait, she’s still alive after 1600 years?”

“Yes, I told you she’s a deity”

“I’d love to meet a creature that old… by the way, how old are _you_?”

“I’m the same age as Mari-Neya, we’re 17 in human years”

“So, what did the oracle say?”

“It took them a while to find her, she was banished by the first evil king because she blessed the king with the Mermaid he wanted.”

“What a douche bag!” Nino exclaimed.

“What is a douche bag? Has a human female mated with a bag?”

Nino chuckled. “It’s just a word we call mean, stupid people but please continue, this story is interesting.”

“Yes… when they did find her, she told the Mers that things would not get better until the blessed one showed up along with the cursed one.”

Adrien pointed to himself as being the cursed one.

“Okay now I’m confused.”

Adrien stopped walking and faced Nino….

“Just Imagine two kings, a good one and an evil one…”

“Okay…”

“The good king had a power inside of him that no other Mers had and he had a child that was sent away by the evil king”

“Okay, sooo the kid beat the odds and lived?”

“Yes, he did and ten generations later a mermaid from the line of the good king is born as well as merman from the evil king.”

“I think I know where this is going”

“My father came from the evil line of kings like the generations before him, he also refused the oracle’s counsel and took a mate, my mother… who happens to be a descendant of the good king. When he found out that the line of evil kings would never be able to bring forth the blessed one. My father, knowing my mother was a decendent of the good king, forced marriage upon her knowing it would destine his heir to be the cursed one. My father tried three times to produce the child of destruction but they all died before they were born because Mari-Neya’s Merparents hadn’t conceived her yet and the curse was just too strong for my siblings to endure. But when news got out that Her mom conceived, my father didn’t wait and he took my mother and she conceived again as well.  My mother had no clue what my father was doing until she spoke with the Sea Oracle. She was devastated and wanted to kill me because she was afraid that I would hurt the blessed one. She didn’t understand that the blessed one and I are tied to each other and she would have died if I wasn’t allowed to live.”

“I don’t know, I kinda think your dad is a douche-bag too!”

 “It was his goal to have his heir tied to the blessed one to maintain control over the kingdom.”

“But it didn’t have to be you, right?”

“I don’t know, a mer-child of destruction would have been born to the evil kings’ line sooner or later. But, it had to be me once he took my mother. As I said before, in her lay dormant the power of the good king and once the generational evil seed came in contact with the generational good seed…”

“All hell broke loose” Nino cut in with an explosive hand gesture.”

“Yes, two kings still fighting inside of me for dominance and it’s painful. My scales are black as death and no longer emerald green. I am now the force that commands the seas, the power that controls the great kraken, and the hand of death and destruction. The entire kingdom now lives in fear of me because of one stupid greedy human diver.”

 

“Ah-dri-yune… I’m so sorry dude, I thought Mari’s life was bad. Can I _call_ her Mari and _call_ you Adrien?”

“You want to compromise, I will allow it”

“What’s her story? Tell me about the day she was taken.” Nino thought about Nathaniel’s father.

“I remember at a very early age that we always had a merguard watching over us and when her mother and my mother would teach us things. They would always keep us close to each other... always, like they knew something that we didn't. Mari was the only Mermaid that was or could be around me and it was the same for her. i never understood why we made each other feel content when know one else could but It only made our bond that much stronger.

 

      

 

"It was at the age of two, she and I were asleep in our clams when I felt something brush against my scales. I woke up and saw the diver holding her down and poking her tail fin with a harpoon and he squeeze something into her much like that _doc-tor_ you took me to."

 

      

 

"I cried because I felt her pain and whatever he did to her, he tried to grab me but as my vision began to darken, I panicked and managed to swim away from him. I looked back for a second and she was in his arms... lifeless."

 

      

 

"A guard rushed to my side when he heard me. No Mer thought a diver would swim so deep and find the very place that was kept hidden."

 

      

 

"He went to check on the Jewel but only found the divers knife. The diver panicked and dropped it after I swam away. He was able to take her, but not me. I remember the entire kingdom going crazy looking for her. Tail fins were moving in all directions and Mari's parents couldn't be... made to feel better?  My father placed four sentries to guard me at all times."

 

      

 

"The guards grabbed that diver the moment he returned to the water; possibly returning to take me as well. I was there when he told my father he didn't take the jewel of the water kingdom but when my father told him the jewel was the ruby pink scaled mermaid with blue hair."

 

    

 

" He admitted to taking her and swimming away with her....

 

    

 

"He said he hid her between some rocks when he fled the guards and when he went back to get her, she was gone. He looked at me like it was all my fault that he got caught but when he found out she was a princess, soon to be queen and the key to keeping my powers in check that could destroy sea and the dry land; he cried for forgiveness, but my father was so angry that he sent me away with a guard so I would not see his punishment with my eyes. He sentenced him to death and sent out a decree to kill any human that dared touch our waters.”

“Wait, wait… wait a minute! Mari… is a princess?! Like royalty???”

“Of Course, she was foretold to come 200 years ago by the oracles own words and declared she would be my mate.”

“Because, you’re the son of the Aquatic king so that makes you a Prince soon to be King am I right?”

“Yes… very good”

“So, what happened to the diver? Did your people eat him?”

“No, I saw the great Kraken take him before my eyes were covered by my guard. The Kraken took what it wanted.”

“Eww! … I guess if I waited 200 years for something, I’d be angry too!”

“Okay, how did you know Mari was the jewel?

“You could never understand what I endured all these years, human. Seeing Mers scared of me as my scales slowly turned black with each day the jewel was missing, my father scared of me and sending out search parties every day to look for her and sometimes I’m scared of myself because getting control of my powers takes a lot of energy and if I don’t have it, it comes out forcefully whether I want it to or not and it’s very painful; like a fire burning from inside of me.”

“Wow, I … had no idea, everyone thought you were just having a temper tantrum when we saw that lightening coming out of the water.”

“No… five years after Mari disappeared, I caused a tsunami by accident when I touched the sea bed during my first outbreak. It caused a lot of harsh currents for us and some major damage to your land. It took my people weeks to push and direct the broken trees and waste to your shores. The second time I lost control, I almost killed a school of merkids that were in a training class. My father had no choice but to train me personally on how to direct my powers toward the surface and away from everyone and everything.”

“Wasn’t that his job anyway? Him being your father and all?”

“My father is the king and he’s a very busy Merman trying to rule the kingdom and sending out sentries for Mari. He doesn’t have a whole lot of time for me and I’m usually looked after by my guards and my friend and trainer Plagg”

“What about your mom? You haven’t said much about her other than the fact that she wanted to get rid of you when she was pregnant.”

“My mom fell sick before the jewel was taken. I'm happy that she didn't see all this.”

“Sorry for your loss, Adrien.”

“I really miss her, she used to sing to me before she placed me next to Mari. She loved Mari’s Mother and father and they loved her and took care of me when she was too ill to do so.”

“Okay, you said that Mari is the jewel… how do you know for sure that _she_ is the one you’re looking for? How did you know she was here?  There’s a lot of females out there.”

“I didn’t know she was here, the sentries came upon her by accident when she fell asleep on the beach. We were only looking in the ocean for her, hoping that she would show up. We knew she was still alive because I was still alive. If she was dead, I would have died soon after she did. I was informed of a female that laid close to the water. The sentry questioned if he should kill her if she touched the water but I wanted to see the female, I didn’t believe she wanted to die. At first glance, all I saw was dark hair and I was disappointed and I commanded the waters to rise.”

“So, what does that prove?”

“It was nothing at first, but when the waters rose the sentry swam back to me afraid that the waters were being poisoned from something black coming from her hair.”

“Yeah, Mari had to keep a black rinse in her hair to hide how blue it is.”

“Her bright blue hair was a gift from the Sea Oracle. Her mother's hair is more black than blue and It is an outward sign to all sea creatures that she is the blessed one. She is the only mermaid that has bright blue hair. When she was born, she was so beautiful that my father called her the jewel of the water kingdom. When I went back to see the female again, her hair was turning blue in the water. The closer I swam to her, the less pain I felt in myself and more pain coming from her. I was close enough to touch the hair that floated in the water and when I did…

Adrien choked back a sob.

“When I touched her hair, my scales… after 15 years of being black, started to turn green again. I knew for sure it was her and I tried to pull her into deeper water to heal her gills but she was afraid and struggled to get away from me. I didn’t see her face until that human dragged her back to the water. He was hurting her but I allowed it because he was trying to do what I needed him to do. To bring her back to me. It wasn’t until he kicked her in her side…”

Adrien took a painful breath as he remembered what happened.

“I wasn’t going to allow him to hurt her again! I killed him before he struck her a second time while she laid hurt on the sand. We waited and watched as she rose to her feet. We made ourselves known to her and she ran away. Word had already been sent to the kingdom that she was found and everyone including her mom and dad rejoiced. The further she went from me, the faster my green scales changed to black. The pain was returning and I chose against the advice of my guards to leave the waters to find her and bring her home.”

“I heard from Alya that she was scared you guys were trying to kill her; she doesn’t remember you or who she is.”

“She doesn’t?! She… she has to! She must remember me!! How is this even possible!!!” Adrien began to panic.

“She was just two years old when Tikki found her, maybe something happened to her when that diver took her?

“I wish I was strong enough then to stop him, I felt it was my fault she was taken”

“You were small, Adrien… I doubt you could have stopped him.”

“I guess so, but I still blame myself.”

“How was she able to last all this time out of the water?” Nino questioned to help Adrien focus on something else when he saw him getting upset and his hands arcing with power.

“It may have to do with her powers or the fact that I was underwater the whole time which would help her in some way, but now that I’m on land, she won’t have that help and neither will I”

“Can’t she just get in a swimming pool?”

Adrien pulled out the bottle of water he collected from the beach and showed it to Nino…

 

      

      

“Your water is not our water; your water has nothing in it and it tastes terrible. If we swam in a pool of your water, we would not change back, but if we swim or get wet with this water, our scales would return.”

Nino was dumbfounded when Adrien suddenly pulled out the water bottle. he knew the blonde didn't have any pockets, but was even more shocked when it disappeared right in front of his eyes after Adrien's hand gave a spark of lightning.

“But you said you pulled Mari into deeper water, why didn’t she change at that time?”

“She’s been out of the water for 15 years, this water has to work on the inside first before it will work on the outside.”

“Your saying you have to drown her?!”

“Yes, her gills need our water… has she not had trouble breathing your air?”

 Nino thought about the day at the beach when Mari used her inhaler. To be honest, she always had an inhaler every time he saw her but he just assumed she had asthma. He was still struggling with everything Adrien was telling him. He didn’t want to believe any of it, but the reasoning for Mari’s blue hair and her breathing problem. The day she was found by Tikki was the same day the curse was placed on the waters. It all lined up and that meant his people were indeed right when they said she was the reason they couldn’t go in the water, which also meant the humans were on dangerous ground hurting the princess of the water kingdom.

 _“Dam!!”_ Nino mumbled to himself

“I know Tikki was the one that found her on the beach years ago, I wonder if she knew anything. She always helped Mari when she needed help.”

“Tikki” Adrien murmured softly to himself. “Does Tikki have a round spot on her face?”

“Uh… as a matter of fact, she has one on her forehead about the size of a coin”

“That’s… unfortunate” Adrien began walking again and Nino caught up.

“Wait, do you know her?”

Nino hoped it wasn’t another confirmation of Mari’s origins.

“Yes, sadly I do.”

“It’s creepy that you know of her, Is Tikki one of you? Does she know you?” _(Alya is not going to like any of this.)_

“No, well she’s not one of us anymore, she would have never known about Mari or me because she was banished 70 years ago trying to revolt against my grandfather. She was my friend Plagg’s mate and doomed to die at the hand of the kraken but the Oracle stepped in and saved her by exiling her to land, so the evil king would never know she was still alive.”

“The Oracle can turn Mermaids into humans? Wouldn’t that make Tikki over a hundred years old now?”

“Tikki was not just a mermaid, she was close to being a deity herself; well more like a baby version of one. That’s why she was able to change her but it cost Tikki her life under the sea and what little power Tikki had.”

“How did Plagg feel?”

“She wanted to spare him, she left without telling him to keep him safe.”

“Did he find another mate?”

“No, Mers usually only chose 1 mate for life and he always believed she was still alive.”

“Is there any chance that she could go back?”

“No, she’s been away too long and she’s more human now than the water being that she was before”

“That’s a real bummer, are you going to tell him about her?”

“I’m not sure, it took him a long time to mourn his loss and I feel that making him go through that again would be too much.”

Adrien suddenly felt raspy and bent over to cough; grabbing his chest as he did so. A second later, he spat blood on the ground.

 

      

 

“Dude… you okay?”

Adrien straightened up and had tears in his eyes as he looked at the blood on his finger.

 

      

 

“It’s not me, Nino… It’s Mari and she’s dying. I thought I had three days to find her and bring her home but I feel I only have a day. If I don’t make it back with her before she gets worse, I will have no choice but to bring the waters of the ocean _to_ her.”

“Wait a minute… are you talking about _a_ tsunami?”

 

      

 

“No, I’m talking about _many_ tsunami’s!”

Nino paled.


	7. "But Mom!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya takes Mari to hide and Alya runs into unexpected people.

 

    Alya drove the moped far out of the reach of the pursuing blonde. She was ready to hide Marinette for as long as it took and if that meant moving her from one place to another, she was ready for it. She was however, very concerned about Nino. She left him with that monster and prayed he didn’t get caught. She was horrified when she realized he left his cell phone with her. Now she couldn’t call him and he couldn’t call her unless he found a pay phone. Unfortunately, pay phones are scarce to come by now that everyone carries cell phones. She’ll have to wait on him but waiting patiently won’t be easy.

Alya pulled up to an abandoned house. It was decent enough to crash for the night and still close enough to find some food.

“Hey Mari, are you okay?”

“Hmm… I think so” Marinette barely whispered through the pain in her chest.

“I think this place will be safe for you to stay tonight and we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow.”

“Okay” she barely replied.

 

      

 

 

Alya helped Marinette into the abandoned building and her heart broke at seeing how bad it was. She didn’t want to hide Marinette in that place, but she didn’t have a choice and her mother was adamant about not letting her come to the house again.

“Ugh! This is so stupid!” Alya ranted. “Why can’t people see that you’re not the reason for the curse!”

“It’s fine Alya, there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Marinette’s stomach growled.

“Hey, I’m sorry… let me go and get you something to eat, okay?”

Marinette nodded. she was too weak to engage in any more conversations.

Alya left on her moped and sped down the road. It was getting dark which meant her mother was going to be leaving for work and she had to get back to watch her sisters. She also needed to find Nino to make sure he was okay. She arrived at a small shop and grabbed whatever food she could for Marinette. She also grabbed a juice and water. It wasn’t much, but it would hold her over until the morning when her mother brought home leftover food from her job.

Marinette watched Alya leave down the rode and when she was out of her sight, she slid down the wall until she was seated on the floor. The place reeked pretty bad and the air in there smelled stagnant and musty. It was enough to burn her nose if she breathed too deeply.

 

      

 

 

Marinette began to cry as she thought of her life. She couldn’t control her genetics. She didn’t know why she had blue hair or why that sea monster was after her and on land no doubt. In all her days, she never heard of a creature coming on land after their prey. Heck, she thought it was all a crazy made-up story to scare people yesterday. Now she’s running for her life and her misfortune had put her only two friends in danger as well.

Marinette began talking to herself…

_"Maybe I should just let it kill me! I don’t want my only two friends to get hurt! Why should I keep hiding when my appearance gives me away the minute someone sees me! This whole city hates me and wants nothing to do with me! Why did Tikki say I was special? I’m not special, my life has been a curse and a burden!”_

Tears started flowing even more and Marinette didn’t even bother wiping them away.

Alya was just leaving the store and putting everything on her moped when Chloe of all people showed up.

“So, did he find her yet?” Chloe snickered.

 

      

 

 

“Find who Chloe!” Alya crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

“You know very well who I’m talking about! Where is she? Are you hiding her?! This has to stop so the city can return to normal!”

“Not sure who your speaking about, Chloooeee!”

“You know, the water king’s son told me himself that he was going to _deal_ with her so you better not get in his way!”

“Wait, you saw the water king’s son?”

“Sure did, the jerk turned my phone into a pile of ash which I’m sure you and Nino should pay for!”

“Yeah? And why is that… exactly?”

“Because my phone wouldn’t have been destroyed if you and Nino weren’t trying to protect her all the time! Someone should have put her on a slow leaking rubber raft and pushed her out in the ocean the day they found her!”

“You’re and evil little hussy! Maybe that thing should have turned you into a pile of ash instead of your phone!”

“Say what you will, peasant! We will see who’s laughing when he finds her!”

Alya rolled her eyes and turned back to her her moped to secure her shopping bag. She didn’t even notice…

Her mother.

 

      

 

“Alya Eileen Cesaire, I have been looking all over for you!”

“Mom, I was coming home, I know you have to be at work by 8 p.m.”

“Alya, do you realize it’s 8:15 right now?!”

“Someone’s in trouble.” Chloe snickered out of her window as her driver drove passed them.

Alya rolled her eyes at Chloe and then looked at her mom’s disappointed face.

“I’m sorry mom, I lost track of time because I was helping my friend.”

“You were helping that accursed girl, weren’t you! Is that stuff for her?!”

“I was helping Nino mom and this stuff is for me.”

“Daughter, don’t lie to me! We have more than enough food and stuff at home and you clearly have guilt written all over your face!”

“I’m sorry, I **_was_** trying to help her because she has no one else mom, I hate seeing her so sick and hungry all the time. Everyone hates her including you and it’s not her fault that she was born with blue hair. No one knows for sure if she was the reason no one can use the waters. She wasn’t that diver, it was Nathaniel’s father that stole the jewel of the water kingdom. Just because she showed up at the same time doesn’t mean we should blame her, does it? What If I went to America or Italy or somewhere in the world and all of a sudden, people started to treat me as a curse? Or my sisters? or you? I would want someone to help me and give me a shoulder to cry on and lend and ear to hear all of my pain and sorrows… wouldn’t you?” Alya sniffled a bit and wiped her eyes.

“Look honey, I understand how you feel, I really do but there is something about her that’s different and I can feel it. It’s not just about her hair or the fact that she showed up the same time the curse was put on the waters. I know these things, honey… Have you ever heard the story about the mayor’s wife?”

“No, I’m not sure I want to know”

“Well, the mayor’s wife was a gifted woman. She could tell you things that only you could know and scary things that no one wanted to know. The Mayor put her away because he feared the talk of the people. We all found out after she died that she left a letter 2 years before the curse, that a great sorrow would come to the shores because of the greed of one man. She said that the man would steal the great treasure of the aquatic kingdom and the curse would not be lifted until the treasure was returned to the great destroyer. The mayor’s wife gave a description of the of the curse, the missing jewel and the thief. Nathaniel’s father who was called Leon Argos at the time was the thief and we all knew that after his body was found the day after he claimed to have taken a pink jewel the day before. Leon’s wife was so embarrassed with shame that she left town with their son and returned years later with her maiden name of Kurtzberg. Unfortunately, the letter received significant damage so the only parts of the letter that could still be read was **… _death from the water_** _, **…sparkled like pink diamonds** , **…blue like the night sky** , **…the great destroyer** , and the word **…cursed**._ So, you see honey; your friend has hair the color of the night sky and she was found near the water when the curse was placed on the waters. Just those two reasons are enough to have the whole city upset.”

“But mom, blue like the night sky could mean anything and she could have been abandoned at the beach by terrible parents that didn’t want her anymore.”

“And what about Chloe? I know she can be a bit challenging sometimes but she, even as a child, cried over a dream that she said was the reason she tried to drown your friend. That’s not normal, Alya.”

“But mom, no one except Nino and I knows how sweet and kind Mari is. She would never hurt a fly. Why isn’t everyone taking out their anger on Leon when it was all his fault!”

“Leon received his just reward, honey. Something killed him. I’m not sure exactly what your friend’s role is in all of this, but I want you to stay away from her.”

“Mom, can I at least give her this food? She’s starving and she was bleeding from her nose. She so weak, mom; please let me help her! I won’t be able to sleep tonight when I know she so hungry.”

Tears were running down Alya’s face. She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t disobey her mother and run off even if that’s what she wanted to do.

"No Alya, I'll take the bag to her and you get back home and watch your sisters. I already late as it is and the girls are being watched by the neighbor until you get there so hurry along."

"Are you sure you're okay with that?"

"Of course, now give me the bag."

Alya handed her mother the bag and gave her the directions to the abandoned house. Her mother watched as Alya headed home and once Alya was out of her sight, her mother threw the entire bag into the trash and went to work.

Marinette waited for Alya to return going on six hours now. Marinette was so sick from hunger and the pain in her chest that she passed out.

 

      


	8. in trouble.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien finds a place to take a dip and drags Nino along

Adrien sense a stream of water nearby and forced Nino to go with him. The blonde had no intentions on letting Nino out of his sight for one second. Sure, he told Nino the truth about everything; it didn’t mean he was going to trust him when his back was turned. Nino was his only link to finding out where his girlfriend was and where she hid his Princess.

“Where are we going?” Nino inquired nervously.

“I need water, Mari needs me to be in water because she is very weak and I can’t trust you not to run away from me while I change back.”

“But… I’m going to help you now, I’m going to help you get to Mari.”

“I’m… not sure I believe you yet Nino. So, tonight you will stay with me and in the morning, we will find my mate.”

“But my family will be worried if I don’t come home tonight.” Nino pleaded.

“I suppose you understand now how the Mers have been feeling since Mari was taken from us _… from me._ ”

What Adrien said was like a slap in the face. It was a painful truth, yet he could understand completely with the way the world was. Children, teens and adults being kidnapped, killed or who know what. The pain is real no matter what species you were, but in this case, it wasn’t just one aquatic family that was suffering, it was the entire ocean and it was spilling onto the dry land.

Nino snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of hard gushing, running water. Something he didn’t know existed in the parts of the woods they travelled in.

“I hear water?” Nino questioned.

“Yes, my apologies for opening up your dry land.”

“You… you opened up the earth?”

“Does that surprise you? I felt a large body of water beneath the surface and I opened up the earth to access it.”

“But… but, that means….”

“That means once I get into the water, my tail will return?”

“Yesss?” Nino’s eyes blew open. He was going to get the chance to see an actual merman, tail and all.

“It won’t be the salty sea water that I need, but the earth water has enough in it to suit me for the night.”

“Do you expect me to get in the water too? Because humans can’t stay in water too long because our skin will get all wrinkly and stuff and I definitely can't breathe water like you… are you planning on drowning me?!” Nino started to panic.

“I understand the human body, you do not need to worry.”

Nino was definitely worried when they came upon a large body of water. Without a doubt was never there before because everyone would have known about it and the place would have been always swarmed with people.

“Dude! How… did you do that?”

“I can do many things, sometimes it can be good, but most of the time; not so good.”

“Sooo you’re going to get into the water now?”

“We… are going to get into the water now”

“But what about…”

Adrien pointed to an area within the rocky side of the cliff. There was a whole there large enough for him to fit.

“You expect me to sleep in that hole?”

“You can sleep there or under the water with me”

“The hole it is, then” Nino groaned and he took his clothes off but left his boxers on. At least the rest of his clothes would remain dry because there was no way to even get to the hole except by way of water.

Adrien removed the large shirt he was wearing and let it drop to the ground. He was completely naked once again and Nino just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Does my appearance bother you?” Adrien asked. “Because it cannot be helped once my tail appears.”

“Normally I would say yes under normal circumstances but we both know that this is far from normal.”

“Far from normal? This **_is_** normal for me.”

“Oh, yeah… not normal for me is what I meant to say.”

Adrien just stared at Nino expectantly…

‘’Dude… um, aren’t you going to get into the water?”

“Yes, I’m waiting for you to enter first”

“Right, right, the whole you don’t trust me thing.”

“Yes, the whole I don’t trust you thing” Adrien retorted.

Nino slowly entered the water and was shocked to find that it was really very warm. He never thought that outside water could feel so good.

“Dude, this water feels great!”

“Just one of the perks of having the power of the sun coursing through my body.”

Nino watched as Adrien began his walk toward the water. It didn’t pass Nino’s attention how Adrien’s face twisted in agony with each step further into the water he went. Painful black scales appeared and crawled up his legs. Adrien gritted his teeth and held back his roar of discomfort as the scales took over every patch of skin. Just when his legs started to wobble and transform into a tail, he dove into deeper water and a minute later, Adrien and his fully formed black tail emerged.

 

      

 

“Dude, that was awesome!”

Adrien gave a small smile but said nothing as he descended under the surface for a bit of refuge.

Nino took that time to do something he never really had the chance to do before in a large body of outdoor water…

He played in it.

That lasted for a good half an hour before Adrien rose to the surface again to stop Nino’s _enjoyment._

“Dude, this is great and I’m soo jealous! But freaked out at the same time! I can’t believe I’m actually swimming with a Mer! Heck, you’re actually a merman! OMG, Alya would die if she saw me, well saw you of course! Can I touch your tail? I know it sounds weird but you’re actually a merman and people don’t believe you exist! I should be freaking out right now, right? Wait, I _am_ freaking out right now!”

Adrien ducked under the surface again to get away from the human that’s quite frankly, very annoying. He gave Nino 15 more minutes to calm down and then he swam up and grabbed Nino’s arm like a shark and dragged him to the hole in the rock surface before Nino swam toward the shallow side of the lake.

“Dude! I wasn’t trying to go anywhere! I was just tired.”

“Be tired and sleep there!” Adrien pointed at the body size hole and hissed.

Nino knew that was his cue so he swam over to it and scrawled into it. Looking around, the only way to the shore was back through the water. Nino had to hand it to the Mer, he wasn’t stupid.

“There is no way to escape me while I sleep because the moment you touch this water; you will die!”

“Dude, how many times have I told you that I want to help! I don’t want Mari to-”

Before Nino could finish his sentence, Adrien ducked below the surface.

“Gosh he’s moody!” Nino groaned.

Nino did his best to get comfortable but after an hour of hearing crickets and the hoot of owls, he wondered just how asleep the Merman was. The water was quite still and the water was too dark to see anything. So Nino grabbed a pebble and flicked it across the surface of the water and a second later, a small arc of lightning erupted from the water and made the pebble ricochet back at Nino and it hit him in his shoulder.

“SHIT! Dam that hurt!” Nino cursed and grumbled under his breath. He rubbed his shoulder and looked at the moon until he fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Nino was abruptly awakened by an earthquake, splashing water, hissing, and growls of pain. He looked at the water and it moved like angry choppy water.

“ADRIEN!” Nino yelled. He was scared, he didn’t know what was happening.

“ADRIEN, WHERE ARE YOU, DUDE!!” Nino screamed again.

When he didn’t get an answer, he grabbed another pebble and threw it in the water.

The water stilled…

Two long minutes later and he could see lightning flashes under the water.

A lot of it.

Nino had an eerie feeling about that. He watched too many horror movies to recognize the calm before the storm. So, he back up into his whole as far as he could go, which wasn’t that far to begin with.

Nino waited for the inevitable which had his heart racing.

“I’m too young for this shit! How did I get myself in this mess anyway! Oh yeah, I just happen to be friends with the lost jewel of the water kingdom, such is my pathetic life!”

Five minutes later, bubbles erupted from the surface at an alarming rate. Then Adrien broke the surface like a whale and slammed back down into the water and disappeared below the surface. Nino’s eyes grew large in disbelief at Adrien’s new appearance. His scales were no longer black, now they were white. His hands looked black, as if burned.

 

      

 

Adrien broke the surface again and looked around like a hungry piranha. Nino caught his eyes and he immediately panicked at the sight of Adrien’s black lips and red eyes. Adrien reached Nino’s spot faster than Nino could utter Alya’s name and began clawing his way toward Nino.

Nino always promised himself that he would never scream like a girl, but this time he couldn’t help himself. He screamed his lungs out and kicked at the claws that were getting too close to his legs.

 

      

 

“STOP, ADRIEN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!”

“MARI-NEYA!!!” Adrien screamed as he clutched his chest and fell back into the water.

A moment later, Adrien floated to the surface but he was out cold.

Nino jumped into the water after Adrien hadn’t moved. For a minute there, he actually thought Adrien might be pretending. But when he saw blood coming out of his nose, he knew time was running out. He pulled the Mer to the shallow end and dragged him out of the water. He put his clothes on and dressed the merman in his dad’s shirt. Being careful of his hot black hands and he wondered if drying his tail would bring back his legs.

 

      

      

Nino carefully took one of Adrien’s hands and brought it close to his scales and the scales changed into skin.

“Bingo!”

Nino took off his shirt and wrapped Adrien’s hands in it. When it started to smolder, he removed his hands and placed the shirt on his tail.

Adrien’s eyes shot open and he screamed in pain. Nino backed away in fear and watched Adrien place his hands on his tail to dry it out faster. Nino couldn’t believe what the Mer had to do to achieve his goal and it broke him down to see the agony on the Mers face as he was trying to lessen the transformation time. When his legs finally appeared, Adrien fell back on the ground, breathing hard. Nino wondered just how bad Marinette was if this Merman was falling apart.

“Are you okay, Adrien?” Nino slowly approached the red eyed Mer.

“Mari-neya… I must find her, I’m sorry… this has never happened before.” Adrien stared at his black hands.

“I suppose you never had a white tail and red eyes either?”

“No, a white tail could only mean Mari is barely holding on and my eyes are a sign of the impending doom.” Adrien choked back a sob. “That water was not enough to help us.”

“Okay, that’s it! Mari is not going to die and neither are you! Let’s get to town and find Alya!”

 

      

 

Nino helped Adrien to stand and wrapped his arm around his shoulder for support.

“You had the chance to run away and you didn’t… why?”

“Let’s just say… all humans are not that bad and I believe you.”

Adrien smiled… “I’m glad I met one that wasn’t bad.”

Nino helped Adrien walk to the main road. He hoped that someone would drive by and give them a ride into town.

 

     

 

It just so happened that Chloe’s limo was driving by and Nino tried to flag it down.

“CHLOE STOP!!!” Nino yelled and the car had to swerve to avoid hitting him.

Chloe jumped out the car ready to attack him when she saw the blonde.

“YOU!...You’re with him?!” Chloe shrieked and pointed.

“Chloe, we need a ride into town, it’s an emergency!”

“Don’t you know who he is?!!”

 

      

 

“YES, I KNOW WHO HE IS AND IF YOU DON’T HELP US, THE WHOLE DAMN CITY IS IN TROUBLE!!”


	9. Are you Insane!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino tries to talk to Alya but it doesn't go well.

 

    Chloe scowled and narrowed her eyes at Nino. There was no way she was going to take part in helping the creature the destroyed her precious phone after threatening her. All her contacts, all of her selfies, and all of the blackmail information and videos were turned to ash. Even her backup storage. Two whole years’ worth… GONE!

“Sorry, but he’s not _my_ problem!” Chloe hissed and turned her back to leave.

“Come on Chloe! For once in your life, can’t you just be nice?” Nino pleaded.

“Nice? NICE?!!... he wasn’t so nice when he turned my phone into a pile of ash! My life was on that phone! MY LIFE!!!”

“Chloe, for the sake of the whole city, please help me get him to Marinette!”

“Her again! That bim- “

Chloe quickly shut her mouth when the Mer looked up at her and hissed. She trembled at the sight of his bright red eyes and black lips.

“What’s wrong with him?!” Chloe said as she took a step back as if he was contagious.

“It’s a long story and I don’t have the time to explain it to you, but the shorter version is that we have to get him to Marinette and then get them both to the beach before he causes a bunch of tsunamis to wipe out the… WELL EVERYTHING!”

“Oh, stop being so overly dramatic! He can’t do _all_ that!” Chloe huffed.

Adrien slipped from Nino’s shoulder and fell to his knees. His mind was spinning and the destructive power was beckoning to come out. Nino tried to help him stand up again but Adrien held his hand up to stop him; showing the angry arc of power rolling in his blackened palms. Nino knew what was about to happen so he backed away a bit when Adrien’s hands touched the ground. Immediately, the ground began to blacken, crack, and shake so bad that it was hard for anyone to stand. It was like a volcano starting to erupt.

Adrien screamed and yelled as the pain took him over. Chloe tried to crawl to the car that was ready to speed away from the danger.

Adrien passed out a minute later and the earth stopped shaking.

“WHAT THE HELL!!” Chloe shrieked “I’M NOT STICKING AROUND FOR THIS, HE SAID HE WAS HERE TO DEAL WITH MARINETTE, JUST HER!!”

“CHLOE, YOU CAN’T RUN AWAY FROM THIS, IF YOU DO THEN EVERYONE THAT DIES WILL BE ALL YOUR FAULT!”

“IT’S ALL MARI TRASHES FAULT! NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING IF SHE DIDN’T SHOW UP!”

“NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING IF NATHANIELS FATHER DIDN’T TAKE HER FROM HER FAMILY!!”

“NATHANIEL’S FATHER STOLE THE JEWEL FROM THE WATER KINGDOM! NOT THAT LOW LIFE BLUE HAIRED- …”

“JEWEL OF THE WATER KINGDOM?!!” Nino interrupted.

“YEAH! AND… AND… WAIT…WHAT???” Chloe shrieked.

“THAT’S RIGHT, THE PRINCE HERE FOUND HER BY ACCIDENT AND SAID MARINETTE IS THE MISSING JEWEL OF THE WATER KINGDOM AND HE’S TRYING TO TAKE HER HOME BEFORE SHE DIES OR HE’LL BRING THE WATER TO HER!” Nino snapped.

“ **I** … **WAS** … **RIGHT!!!** SOMEONE SHOULD HAVE PUT HER ON A RUBBER BOAT AND PUSHED HER OUT IN THE WATER! BUT NOOOOO, YOU AND ALYA WANTED TO BE HER FRIEND AND DEFEND HER!!”

Nino ran his hand down his face and took a breath. He didn’t want to keep shouting with Chloe. He just needed her car.

“Chloe, she was taken from her people, it wasn’t her fault that her people were angry about it and wanted her back. A human went into _their_ world and took someone very important to the stability of their kingdom. They were upset and they’ve been looking for her for 14 years. How would you feel if someone snuck into your room one night and stole your stuffed bear?”

“Don’t even go there Lahiffe! I’ll help, but he’s so going to owe me big time!”

Nino and Chloe’s driver put Adrien into the back seat of the car. It was quite evident at how scared the driver was, but he helped regardless thanks to Chloe’s prompting.

Chloe call her hairstylist on her new phone to tell her she’d be late. She also took a few pictures of Adrien while he was still out cold but Nino covered Adrien’s face just in time.

 

      

 

“Really?” Nino glared “You shouldn’t be taking pictures of him without his permission! Don’t you know how people will react if they saw him? His people would be in danger… _again!”_

“So? … what you going to do about it? Call it payment for the ride you’re getting.”

“Yeah, whatever!” Nino rolled his eyes and turned Adrien’s body away from Chloe.

 

      

 

“So, what is she to him anyway?” Chloe asked as the car sped to it destination.

“His… mate?”

“His whore you mean.”

“Uh No, Chloe… she’s his princess and soon to be queen of their people”

“NOOOO!!!!!!!”  Chloe eyes grew large.

“Yessss????!!!”

Chloe’s face twisted in a scowl. Every evil thing she did to Marinette, flashed through her mind. What did that mean for her now? If Marinette was indeed the jewel of the water kingdom, royalty by their standards, and soon the controller of the seas, does that mean Marinette would take vengeance on all those who wronged her all these years? Chloe felt sick to her stomach. She’d never get her sea salt scrub or sea mineral face mask, or be able to take her daddy’s boat out ever again.

“Can I use your cell phone?” Nino asked.

“First my car, now my phone?!” Chloe rolled her eyes.

“I have to get ahold of Alya, she’s the only one that knows where Mari is.”

“It won’t do you any good, because we don’t exactly get along so she won’t answer.”

“I need to try anyway.”

Chloe gave her permission and Nino called Alya…

“Come on, pick up, pick up!” Nino ranted. He hung up and called again. He heard a lot of static on the phone as it was ringing. He looked at Adrien’s hands and the arc of power was starting to grow. The cell phone static grew louder as his power danced around his hands.

Alya never answered the phone.

“See, I told ya!” Chloe smirked.

“How about the driver’s cell phone? Surely he has one.”

“Of course, he has one! What driver of mine wouldn’t, since he has to be at my beck in call.”

“Well, can I use it?!” Nino cocked his head and dead panned as if it was a stupid request. She obviously knew he needed it.”

“Chloe rolled her eyes and handed the drivers phone over to Nino after the driver gave it to her.”

“Thanks dude”

“The driver nodded after briefly glancing in the rear-view mirror.”

Nino dialed Alya’s phone number.

“Come on, pick up, pick up!” Nino pleaded again. The static on the phone was just as bad on the driver’s phone as it was Chloe’s.

“Hello, this is Alya… who is this?”

“Alya!” Nino started as soon as Alya answered.

“Nino! What happened, I was out of my mind with worry because you left your phone and I had no idea how to-“

“Woah, babe… I’ve got something important to tell you.”

“Okaaayy?”

“You’re not going to like this but we have to give Mari to the Aquatic king’s son, Adrien!”

Nino pulled the phone away from his ear at the impending shriek.

“WHAAATTT!!!!!!” Alya screamed.

“Dude, I know it sounds crazy but-“

“ARE YOU INSANE!!!!”

“Alya, you don’t understand, he told me-“

“THAT STATIC IN THE PHONE! YOU’RE POSSESSED! HE HAS YOU UNDER HIS SPELL!! IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE BECAUSE THE SANE NINO **_I_** KNOW AND THE FRIEND MARINETTE KNOWS WOULD NEVER HAND HER OVER TO A CARNIVORUS FISH!!!”

“Alya would you just listen to me for a second so I can explain?!”

“WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO SOMEONE THAT IS **_NOT_** MY BOYFRIEND!

(((CLICK!!!)))

“She did not just hang up on me!”

Nino called her back.

“STOP CALLING MY NUMBER YOU POSSESSED DEMON!”

(((CLICK!!!)))

“OH MY GOSH, ALYA!!!”

NINO CALLED HER BACK AGAIN.

“IF YOU CALL MY NUMBER ONE MORE-“

“MARI’S DYING, ALYA!!!” Nino screamed over her.

“YOU SEE, YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING! MARINETTE IS FINE!!”

“OH YEAH?! IS SHE WITH YOU?” Nino looked over at Adrien who was clearly getting worse.

“YOU KNOW VERY WELL MY MOM WOULD NOT ALLOW THAT!”

“WELL DID YOU CHECK ON HER TODAY? BECAUSE I’M POSITIVE MARINETTE IS NOT FINE!”

“WOULD YOU JUST TELL HER ALREADY! BETTER YET, JUST GIVE ME THE DAMN PHONE!” Chloe snatched the phone from Nino.

“Lookee, here you clueless peasant! you’re boyfriend and the water kings son is in **_my_** car taking up **_my_** time looking for That blue haired friend of yours which i can’t believe **_is_** the lost jewel of the water kingdom! you need to give her back to her people or we’re  all going to die!!”

“You done lost your mind too!”

(((ClICK!!!)))

“Well… I tried!” Chloe shrugged her shoulders and gave the driver back his phone.

“Uh~ahh!!!!” Adrien screamed as he woke up. Lightning shot out of his hands and struck different areas inside the car including the driver because Adrien was sitting behind him. Everyone inside the car screamed as the car lost control and flipped over a few times. When it finally came to a stop, OnStar could be heard on the cars speaker.

_“We see that you’ve been in an accident, help is on the way.”_

 

      

 

Adrien got out of the car after looking at the three other’s that were out cold. Each one of them had and injury but Adrien could only focus on getting to the jewel. He began to walk but he was in a haze. His hands were arcing on their own volition and lightning was erupting from him uncontrollably leaving a path of destruction. All he mumbled was her name.

“Mari-neya.”

 

* * *

 

 

“I can’t believe them, who do they think they are trying to feed me a load of crap like that! What was Nino even thinking!” Alya rubbed her temples to sooth the headache they caused. “And why did he hook up with Chloe of all people when he doesn’t even like her! that carnivorous fish has to have them under his control; that’s the only explanation!”

“Hi honey, I’m home from work” Alya’s mom called out as she walked in the door.

“Hi, mom!” Alya responded as she went over to give her mother a hug.

“How did you sleep, honey?”

“I slept pretty good, thanks for giving Mari that food I brought for her.”

“Sorry honey, I didn’t bother with that, I threw it all away”

“MOM!” Alya’s face paled and her stomach dropped.

“I was late for work, dear.” Alya’s mom waved her off like she didn’t care. “Did you want me to lose my job or something?”

Alya burst out crying. “But mom, you said…”

“I know what I said, Alya… I said what I had to say last night and you just need to get over it.”

Alya ran into the kitchen, grabbed a juice box and some fruit and ran out of the house in tears with her mother yelling behind her for her to stop. Alya ignored her and rode off on her moped.

Alya rode for 15 minutes and heard screams, sirens and saw smoke. A second later an explosion went off and the ground shook almost making her lose control of the moped.

 

      

 

“What the heck!” Alya hissed as she passed and area that was completely demolished. She didn’t know what was happening and she was too worried for Marinette to care about all the screams she was hearing all around her.

Adrien looked possessed as he walked through the streets. There were people all around him running away and screaming in fear but his eyes didn’t see them. All he saw was red and all he felt was pain.

 

      

 


	10. Sea monks… the kings retrieval tools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien's closing in and the Aquatic king sends his Monks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe two more chapters.

 

    If it weren’t for the street signs, Alya wouldn’t have known where she was. The whole city looked at if a bomb went off. Sirens from fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, buildings and random cars were all going off at the same time. She really hated that the debris in the streets was slowing her down. Running probably would have been faster. When she did finally make it to the abandoned house, she was both relieved and worried. Her mother… she didn’t want to think about how she betrayed her trust.

She drove up as close as possible and was surprised the old building took on little to no damage. It was odd seeing the other buildings all destroyed and yet this one stood untouched. Alya parked her moped and ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. She wasted no time getting into the damp, musty building. The more she thought about it, the more she hated leaving her best friend in there. Especially when she has breathing problems.

“Marinette, I’m here!” Alya yelled.

“…”

When she didn’t hear her friend replying, she yelled again.

“Marinette, I’m coming up and I have a little food and we can go out to get some more!”

“…”  

Now Alya was panicking. She should have heard something, even movement. Maybe she wasn’t there? She hoped that would be the case. Alya made it to the top floor and her heart dropped to her feet.

“Oh my gosh… Mari!” Alya fell to her knees beside her friend to check if she was still breathing and to check her pulse. Her heart rate was slow and weak and her breathing was shallow.

 

      

 

“How did Nino know?!”

Alya brushed that thought aside and called for an ambulance. The chances were high that if she called for Marinette; they wouldn’t come. But if she called for herself…

“911… what’s your emergency?”

“I’m hurt, I-I ran for cover at the old house on vine street. _(Alya pretended to cry)_ I think the number on the house is-is 571 and I c-can’t move and I-I’m scared… I think I’m d-dying!” she lied and didn’t regret it.

“Can you stay calm for me? What’s your name sweetie?”

“It’s A-Alya.” She pretended to sniffle.

“Okay Alya… I’m sending help to your location now.”

“Th-Thank you s-so mmuch.” Alya sniffled again for an added dramatical flair.

“Stay on the phone until the ambulance gets to you and stay inside and far away from…” the lady mumbled low the last part.

“From??” Alya questioned.

“I’m sorry Miss Alya… I’m not sure what they’re calling him, but he’s the reason for the destruction going on and he’s been spotted near your location!”

Another explosion went off and it was close enough the shake the house. Alya’s phone call was dropped and produced a ‘temporary loss signal’ message.

She ran to the window and saw lightning hitting a building a block away from her position and she knew it was _HIM_. She was grateful that she could see the ambulance headed her way and was nearly pulling up to the house.

Less than five minutes later, two paramedics were taking a stretcher into the house.

“Is anyone here?” One paramedic yelled.

“We’re up here!” Alya called back.

“We?” the two looked at each other and then to the stretcher. They weren’t prepared for two injured parties. Nevertheless, they proceeded on until they reached the top floor. Alya did her best to hide Marinette’s hair so they wouldn’t reject her.

“Is she the only one hurt?”

“Yes, it’s just her and she’s not waking up; I don’t know what’s wrong.”

The Paramedics took her vitals and her blood pressure.

“We have to get her to the hospital! She’s barely holding on!”

They began to lift her up and the head covering fell away to Alya’s horror. Both paramedics paused and gave each other an incredulous look before turning to Alya.

“Look, she’s my friend and I knew you would reject her if you knew who she was. Can you above everyone else in this stupid hateful city have a heart? I don’t know if it’s true or not but Chloe Bourgeois just told me that Marinette here is the… is very important and it’s imperative that we help her!”

Since they both knew Chloe and her father, they put Marinette on a stretcher and carried her out of the house, a moment later, they loaded her in the ambulance and Alya followed behind on her moped. She wanted to be in the truck with her but they wouldn’t allow it.

The truck sped through the streets and Alya followed close behind. The way the truck was moving, it told her that Marinette was in bad shape. Could it be that Nino and Chloe was telling the truth? That she’s the jewel of the water kingdom?

(((KABOOM!!!))) (((CRASH))) (((BANG!!!)))

The Ambulance stopped dead in it’s tracks and Alya had to swerve to keep from rear ending it. There was a building that came crashing down in front of the truck that halted them. The truck slowly detoured around the debris and went on its way only to be confronted on their path by the creature himself.

“MARI-NEYA!!!” Adrien yelled at the ambulance with his hands out stretched. Of course, the driver of the EMS truck only freaked out and high tailed it away and around the creature. Alya on the other hand was worried that Nino was no where around. Was he okay? He said he was with him in Chloe’s car.

Adrien had a momentary reprieve from his loss of control when the EMS truck came upon him. He felt his mate inside the truck. Now if only they would hand her over to him, he could be done with the humans and go home. But no, they sped away with her and it kindled his rage once again!

Not wanting to strike the truck, but hoping to disable it, he directed his power to the ground and it shook with enough fury that the vibrations reached the aquatic kingdom. Adrien saw that what he tried to do only hastened the truck on to avoid calamity. Alya was following and it angered him at seeing her and it prompted him to remember the name that was written on the side of the truck.

**_Paris General Hospital EMS_ **

 

* * *

 

 

Gabriel clenched his royal chair when an unsettling vibration in the water hit him and caused others to swim for cover.

 

     

 

“Your Majesty, Prince Adrien has sent a shock wave through the earth and it disorientated much of the Marine life and most of the guards that were on duty.”

“I knew it was a mistake to let him leave the waters on his own! Send my two great Sea Monks Wazz-ato and Fu-logum to bring them back once and for all!”

“But your majesty, they won’t be able to blend in with the humans, will that not be of concern that the humans would attack them?”

“The Sea Monks are my most capable allies and the only ones that can breathe air long enough to bring them home and without the worry of a tail!”

“Right away your Majesty!”

Since the Merfolk didn’t like to travel into the abyss where the monks and giant creatures lived, an eel was sent down with the message.

The Sea Monks were not swimmers with tails like the Mers but creatures of the deeper parts of the waters and sort of resembled humans.

Once informed by king Gabriel’s message on their new task, the Sea monks halted their current ministrations. They of course knew all about the princess and the prince because they were the only two of the Mers that would sneak away as toddlers and visit the creatures of the deep. It surprised everyone that the very young Mers played hide and go seek down into the Abyss and could stand the pressures of the descent. On the Monks way up from the abyss, they echoed for a whale which arrived within minutes of sending out the signal.

 

      

 

The two Sea Monks grabbed onto the Blue whale’s fin and the whale swam up and to the surface of the water. Because the whale was such a large creature, it could only get so close to the shore line where the guards that Adrien left were currently held up. Once the guards saw them, they parted like the red sea. The Monks were creatures to be feared. They could cause mental pain and disorientate anyone they wished. The only one’s not subjected to their mental power was the king, and Sabine. The prince, the princess and the oracle were immune. They communicated without words and they could communicate with others as well… _if they wanted to._

The Mer guards watched in awe as the two ancient monks left the water. Many of the Mers only saw carved etching on old stone tablets of them and creatures around them swimming away in pain.

 

      

 

  _(flashback)_

Only a few lucky and unlucky Mers actually saw what they looked like with their own eyes, because on one occasion, they were seen carrying a mischievous little prince and princess to the king when they snuck away from their nannies. The guards who never saw them before, mistakenly thought they stole the Merkids and tried to attack them. Within seconds of drawing their sharp coral weapons, one sea monk clutched the sleeping princess to his chest to protect her and the other Monk held tight to the sleeping prince to its chest and gave the guards a disproving glance. All the guards dropped their weapons and fell to the sea bed floor clutching their heads from pain. The cries of the guards only alerted more guards and they too fell to the sea floor before they got with 50 feet of them. When Gabriel went for himself to see what was going on, he came face to face with the Monks for the first time. He looked at him and then to the toddlers. Gabriel had heard of the Monks from his father. His father told him to show the Monks the utmost respect because it was expected from them regardless of being the king and they would and could be your greatest friend or worst nightmare.

 _“You are worried.”_ The Sea Monk Fu-logum asked in Gabriel’s mind. His voice sounded like many waters.

 

      

 

“Only for my son and his mate; the prince and princess have eluded their caretakers… _again_ and I’m wondering if they have done something to offend you.” Gabriel watched as the monk stroked Adrien’s hair in his sleep.

“ _They are not like the rest of your people. I know what they are, what they are capable of and what they mean to the waters and you… will be spared for their sake.”_

“Spared?! What does that supposed to mean?”

 _“Your mind has revealed it’s wickedness, but I will not hurt the father of the great destroyer.”_ With that, the Monk Fu-logum gave the child to his father. A moment later, Sabine timidly swam over to the Monk Wayzz-ato. Marinette's little hand was already attached firmly to one of his hair tendrils and Sabine looked terrified, but the Monk only smiled.

 _“Worry not, mother of the blessed one for I will not hurt you. Keep a close eye on them at all times, for I see the sadness, pain and loss in their future.”_ Wayzz-ato said to Sabine’s mind as he handed Marinette over _. “They are welcome to visit the Abyss whenever they wish, they have nothing to fear. For their sake, if they ever need us, we will help them.”_

The two monks, not waiting to be dismissed, only bowed their heads slightly and turned around and walked back to the cliff’s abyss opening and stepped off. Marinette woke up and started to cry as soon as she saw them disappear which woke up Adrien and he started to cry too. _(Flashback ends)_

Once the Monks began their trek onto the land, the Merguards retreated back under the surface after giving each other surprised looks.

The monks stood still for a moment and used their minds to scan the city for Adri-yune and Mari-neya. They were able to do this because of the many time the little ones visited the abyss. The abyss being very dark and deep so the monks would always listen in on the toddlers play. It wasn’t long before Fu-logum located Adrien because Adrien was giving off a tremendous amount of power. Wayzz-ato looked over at Fu-logum with a look of worry because he could sense that Mari-neya was extremely weak.

 

      

   

Fu-logum pointed east and that’s the way they went.

 

* * *

 

 

The EMS truck and Alya arrived at the hospital. She stayed at Marinette’s side as soon as the paramedics took the gurney out of the truck. They contemplated on leaving her outside the doors or taking her inside. Alya saw the dilemma on their faces so she pushed one of the workers aside, grabbed a bar and started pushing her in herself. Of course, she covered her hair before she pushed her in, she wasn’t stupid. Two nurses ran to her side, looked at the chart the EMS workers filled out and quickly pushed the bed into a room. Alya was glad the emergency room was busy so they neglected to see who they were caring for.

“Does she have a next of kin?”

“Um… she’s my sister… a-adopted sister!” Alya corrected when they looked at her.

“Okay, the doctor will be in momentarily, he’s finishing up with a patient.”

“Thank you.” Alya replied. While she waited, Alya carefully changed Marinette into a pink hospital gown. She didn’t want Marinette stuck in her day old dirty abandoned house smelling attire. She then called Chloe’s phone number back because Nino didn’t have his phone and he wasn’t with the creature.

“Bourgeois speaking” The male voice announced.

“Hello, Mr. Bourgeois, is Chloe available?

“I’m sorry, Chloe was in an accident and she’s resting now.”

“Accident? Was anyone else hurt?”

“Well her driver is in critical condition at the Paris general hospital and I believe a Mr. Nino Lahiffe was taken there as well.”

“Oh no!” Alya cried as she hurried to the reception desk to inquire where her friend was.

“Ah yes, Mr. Lahiffe was just discharged a moment ago.”

“Alya!” Nino yelled as he emerged from the hospital room.

“Nino?! Alya whipped around at the sound of her boyfriend’s voice.

They ran to each other and embraced in a hug.

“What happened? I heard you were in an accident!”

“We were, Chloe’s car lost control after Adrien woke up and freaked out. His lightning hit the driver and we crashed. I don’t know how we survived after that car flipped and crashed like it did but I’m definitely buying a car like that”

“I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah, me too but where’s Mari-Neya? Adrien is out of control because of her.”

“Mari who?”

“Yeah dude, Marinette’s name is actually Mari-Neya, Alya. You called it when you said she could be a mermaid. Can you believe she actually is! And royalty at that!”

“I think you hit your head in that accident”

Nino turned to face Alya and exhaled. He didn’t like the way things turned out either but he needed to do what was right.

“Look, Alya… She _is_ the lost jewel of the water kingdom. Remember the story of Nathaniel’s father claiming he took a merbaby that sparkled like pink diamonds?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Alya, that was Mari; he lost her and tried to go back to steal Adrien but he got caught. They had him killed because he said he lost her and didn’t know where she was. She was foretold to be something big for their people two hundred years ago and two years after she and Adrien were born, Nathaniel’s father took her, but now we know that she washed up on the beach and was found by a lady named Tikki.”

” The lady with the red hair” Alya said sadly.”

“Yeah, who just so happens to, well use to be one of them.” Nino added.

“And he told you all of that?”

“Yea dude and at first I didn’t believe it but the more he said, the more I knew it had to be true.”

“This is hard to believe, Nino… everything’s happening so fast!”

“Where’s Mari, Alya? We have to get her to Adrien! He’s out of control destroying Paris!”

“Are you sure about this? he could be lying you know.”

“Alya, please! She’s his soon to be wife and they’ll be rulers of the ocean! He’s not trying to kill her, he’s trying to save her!”

(((“BOOM!!!))) The hospital shook violently, causing everyone to grab onto something.

“She’s over here!” Alya grabbed Nino’s hand and they hurried to her room just as the doctor was going in.

“Hey… I know you! Aren’t you Dr. Carl Bey?”

“That’s right, and you are?”

“I brought my friend to see you the other day, you know the blonde that spoke in fish metaphors; what happened to your wrist?”

“YOU!... do you know what that creature of yours did to me! I’m lucky I didn’t lose my hand! What is he doing here! He belongs in the ocean! Did you call him here? Why are you even with him?! Are you like him too? Are you here to finish what he started!” The doctor took a step back.

“Woah, woah, woah, time out doc… I didn’t know anything until yesterday and I didn’t know he hurt you!”

“Well, he did! And now he’s destroying Paris for some ungodly reason! What does he want!”

“Promise you won’t get mad?”

Alya stepped in to try to diffuse his anger.

“Young lady, I can’t be angrier than I am right now!”

“He’s looking for the Jewel of the water kingdom”

“HA! Well, no one knows where it is so why don’t you tell him that so he can leave!”

“But he does know where the jewel is and we know too _… now_ ”

“Okay, so where is the jewel?”

Alya and Nino stepped aside from Marinette’s bed.

The doctor looked at Marinette and around her bed and didn’t see anything.

“Well, is this a game? I have other patients to attend to”

Both Nino and Alya pointed to Marinette.

“Is this a joke?! Is she in on the prank?! I should call security!”

Nino stopped him from leaving.

“Dude… I mean Dr. Carl, he's looking for her, she’s the jewel of the water kingdom and If she dies, we die!”

Alya removed the covering from her head and the doctor stumbled backwards in shock.

“Do you hate me???” the doctor whined. “Is this because I didn’t file my taxes for the last three years???”

“TAXES??!!... Doc, would you please just help her!”

“I’m sorry, I can’t hel-“

Alya stormed up to his face and glared menacing.

“I will hurt you and everyone in this damn hospital if you don’t Do. Your. Job!”

Nino went and stood by the door to prevent the doctor from leaving.

The doctor gave a sigh and went over to check Marinette. he placed the stethoscope on her chest to listen.

“Is she’s like him?”

“Yeah, doc” Nino replied.

“If she’s from the water then she needs water. I’m surprised she’s still alive. If there’s gills under here, they sound pretty bad. Why didn’t you take her to the ocean? Or Sea world? This hospital doesn’t treat Marine life!”

“Don’t you have some fluids you can give her?”

“I’m not going to waste it on a fish!”

Alya cracked her knuckles… loudly.

The doctor paged the nurse to bring a bag of saline fluid.

After the bag arrived, the doctor put a heart monitor on her and an oxygen sensor. He was about to put the needle in her vein but Nino stopped him.

“What are you doing? I thought you wanted me to help her.”

“I do, but I need that fluid to go in her chest… with this.”

Nino pulled out the bottle of sea water that Adrien had collected and carried with him.

“Nino!”

“I know Alya, Adrien was going to give it to her but he lost it in the car crash. He said It’s the only way, Alya… He said her gills need it”

“But what if she's not…”

“If she’s not… then you can blame me if something bad happens.” Nino said sadly.

Alya was torn, she didn’t know what to believe and her friends vitals were getting worse by the minute. She stroked Marinette hair and kissed her on her forehead.

“I love you, Mari” she whispered and then turned her back so she couldn’t watch as the doctor pierced her chest deeply.

The Doctor set the drip to wide open and set up the collected sea water to flow in at the same time. He and Nino watched as the fluids traveled through the tube until the line was full of fluid.

Then they waited to see what would happen.

And waited.

And waited.

And…

The heart monitor went crazy, and the oxygen sensor went from 90 to 50 percent. Marinette started to thrash around like she was having a seizure and the doctor and Nino held her down. Alya started to cry and panic at the same time.

“Help her!!!” Alya screamed.

“We have to give it time to work!” the doctor pleaded.

Alya ran out the room in tears. She couldn’t watch her friend die like that.

After a few more minutes, Marinette started to calm down to a restful state. Her heart beat returned to almost normal, but it was beating at an odd pace and her oxygen saturation level was rising steadily.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it’s working!” the Doctor said amazed.

“Yeah, I’m with you on that, but what do we do about the water coming out of her nose? Don’t we have to keep it in?”

“Good call, I’ve got an idea.”

The doctor left and came back with a gas mask and Nino looked at him oddly.

“I know it's crude but it's better than nothing.”

The doctor plugged the wholes and put it on her and the mask slowly filled up with water.

Nino and the Doctor watched as Marinette’s vitals begin to improve even more.

“Huh… If I didn’t see it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

“You know doc… You’ll go down in history as the doctor who saved everyone.” Nino praised the doctor.

“No young man, it was you and your girlfriend”

 

     

 

“Oh gosh, speaking of.” Nino looked outside the door and didn’t see Alya.

“Hey doc, I need to find my girl and tell her the good news, do you mind, you know, keeping her a secret for a while longer?”

“Sure, I don’t think people will be comfortable knowing she’s here anyway.”

Nino gave him the thumbs up and went to look for his girlfriend. He found her sitting in the hospital church sobbing.

“Hey Alya.”

Nino sat down next to her and put his arm around her.

Alya wiped her eyes and didn’t look at him.

“You came to tell me she’s at peace now?”

“Yea, she is for the first time in a long time I suppose.”

“How could you!”

“I was just trying to help, Alya! That's what friends do.”

“But we were supposed to look out for each other! Now we can’t…anymore.”

“We can still try, I don’t know how now… but I’m sure we could find a way.”

“She's dead Nino! How can we still try anything?!”

“Dude, what are you talking about? Mari’s not dead, she’s better and she’s resting.”

“She… she’s alive??”

Alya turned to face her boyfriend to see the truth in his eyes.

“Yeah, she’s alive and I’m going to be honest Al… it scared the hell out of me!”

Alya punched him on the arm… hard.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Why did you say she died?!”

“When did I say she died? I just confirmed by your own words, that she was at peace!”

“You said… oh…” Alya thought of her mistake. “I want to go see her now.”

Alya stood up and Nino grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Al, I just want to prepare you for what you’re about to see. Mari _is_ who Adrien said she is.”

“Oh.” Alya said sadly knowing her friend would be leaving her as soon as Adrien showed up.

The two walked back to Marinette’s room and as soon as they walked in the room, there were police in it and one was talking with a male nurse next to Marinette's bed and the other two were ready to push her bed out the door.

“Whoa, what's going on here!” Nino glared at the nurse. “Who are you and what happened to Doctor Carl?!”

 

      


	11. peace be still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sea Monks make a path.

 

“I’m Nurse Mark and Dr. Carl had and emergency with another patient. Did you two bring her here? The ambulance driver notified the hospital that they brought her here!”

“Yeah, so what! Are you saying she doesn’t deserve medical care?” Alya spat.

“She’s going to upset the other patients that’s here and we can’t allow that to happen!”

“Well how will anyone know she’s here if you don’t tell them? Last time I checked, there’s a door to this room that can stay closed!”

“She doesn’t even have insurance to cover the bed she’s on!”

“We both know that not everyone that come through those doors have medical insurance!”

“I’m sorry, but she has to go!”

“You’re not the boss here, Dr. Carl is treating her! and why is the police here?! She’s not some kind of criminal! She’s the lost jewel of the water kingdom! And you’re making a huge mistake even being in here!”

“Hold up young man!” Officer John stepped in the conversation. “She’s not the jewel of the water kingdom, everyone knows that it’s just a myth. This girl is just a curse.

“You’re wrong! Didn’t you see who’s tearing up the city?”

“Yeah, we saw… he’s pretty dangerous and we believe she caused it.”

“Look, he just wants her back, don’t touch her!”

“I…I…ahhh!!!” Officer John fell to his knees followed by the nurse and the two other officers.

“My head- ahh!! I c-cant…Ahhh!!!”

There were collective groans and hisses of pain. Alya and Nino started to get scared because they thought this pain would hit them too.

Suddenly the door slowly opened and more wails could be heard in the hallway and two very large creatures entered the room. Alya a Nino back themselves up against the wall in fear.

 

      

 

 _“Worry not, friends of the blessed one. We are here to escort the prince and princess home.”_ Fu-logum spoke to their minds. Wayzz-ato pressed upon the minds of the nurse and the officers to leave the room and like in a trance, they stood up and did so in a single file line.

After they left, Wayzz-ato went over to look at Mari but spoke to Alya’s mind without turning to face her.

_“I know the pain you feel for her, you feel like it’s your fault that she’s like this?”_

“Yes” Alya sniffled and Nino thought she was talking to herself.

_“I will not blame you, because you did not know who she really was, but now that you do, are you okay with her leaving?”_

“I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?”

Nino looked at Alya and wanted to ask what she was talking about but then he noticed that she kept looking at the creature checking of Marinette and then it dawned on him that the creature was talking to her.

_“No, she will die soon if she doesn’t go home.”_

“Does she have a family? A mom and dad?”

_“She does”_

Alya was able to smile at that. A mom and dad were something Mari always wanted and talked about.

Nino stared at the larger creature and coward a bit under his glare. It was very intimidating feeling scrutinized by a giant sea creature that literally incapacitated four men at the same time.

Fu-logum turned away from Nino and faced the door as if waiting for someone to walk through.

“Is-is someone coming?” Nino questioned.

 _“He’s here”_ Fu-logum spoke to Nino’s mind.

“Wow, dude… I could actually hear you in my head.”

 a second later, screams could be heard and the floor cracked while the lights buzzed and flickered.

Adrien then pushed the door open roughly like he had the force of a blast in his hands and it nearly knocked the door from its hinges, hands still arcing with power. Fu-logum stopped him from going any further by towering over him.

 

      

 

_“Adri-yune, peace be still!”_

Adrien looked up at his long-time friend with fire in his eyes and suddenly felt his friend's calmness wash over his mind.

“Mari-neya” Adrien uttered. “I- I need her!”

 _“She’s here but you must calm yourself, you can do it.”_   He ordered.

“Mari-Neya” Adrien repeated slowly.

_“repeat her name if it will make you feel better”_

Adrien repeated her name slowly over and over like a mantra and as he did, his body calmed from the arc of his destruction and his skin and eyes returned to normal.

“That’s so awesome.” Nino whispered to Alya as they both watched the change in Adrien. “We need that kind of therapy on land.”

“It could just be a fish thing you know.” Alya whispered back.

 

      

 

Fu-logum took a knee in front of Adrien to be at his level because he was tall. He placed his three fingered hand on Adrien’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

_“You’ve done well, your highness but for Mari-Neya’s sake, you must control yourself or it will affect her. she’s very weak.”_

“How are you here?”

_“Your father asked for our help and we couldn’t say no to helping our two favorite Mers.”_

Adrien smiled, but Fu-logum could feel Adrien's anxiety and impatience about seeing and touching his mate again so Fu-logum stood again and stepped aside.

_“Wayzz-ato and I will escort the two of you back to the water”_

Adrien nodded and looked over to Wayzz-ato who also nodded and stepped away from Marinette. The two Sea Monks then left the room to clear the way.

Adrien looked at Nino and Alya. By the looks on their faces, he could tell they weren’t going to give him anymore trouble. So, he slowly walked over to Mari’s bed and with every step, the pain in his body became less and less. Tears began to swell in his eyes as he trailed his hand up the side of her covered body. He couldn’t believe it, he was actually touching her. Now he was standing next to her face and he was about to remove the mask when Nino spoke up.

 

      

 

“Dude, she might need that because it’s keeping the water inside.” Nino held up the bottle Adrien lost in the accident.

Adrien retracted his hand and viewed a red spot on her chest, a tubed needle that lay next to her and followed it to the bag that hung next to her bed. It was empty now.  Wayzz-ato must have removed it. Adrien lifted the mask slightly and water began to seep out of it. He tasted the water and frowned; it was not pure sea water which by his standards would be depleted of what she needed before they made it to the water. He pulled her toward him, grabbed her under her arms and picked her up out of the bed.

      

      

 

Once situated in his arms, he kissed her on her forehead and started his walk toward the door.

“Please don’t take her yet!” Alya cried out as Nino stopped her from approaching them.

 

      

 

“Alya Stop! You know she has to go! Do you want those other two to come back in here and hurt us?”

“I-I just wanted to say good-bye!” Alya pleaded to Nino as tears rolled down her face.”

Nino sighed, he wanted to say good-bye as well.

“Adri-yune… would you mind if we walk with you… to the water?” Nino questioned sadly holding his girlfriend as she cried.

“I will… allow it.” Was all Adrien said as he carried Mari-neya out the door.

 

      

 

* * *

 

 

It was odd seeing people parting like the red sea and in trances like they didn’t see the tall aquatic creatures, Adrien, or Marinette. Now they had time to see just how much damage Adrien caused and it was massive!

 

      

 

“It looks like a bomb went off, Nino”

“You know, dude… this wouldn’t have happened if you just listened to me.”

“Thanks, I already feel bad enough as it is!”

“Not trying to make you feel bad, Al… it’s my fault too, we didn’t know who she really was and we were trying to protect her. Heck, that’s all we did for the last what 15 or 16 years?”

“Yeah, you know I was kidding when we were on the beach.”

“Yeah, but you called it, she’s an actual mermaid and a princess!”

“Wow, a princess and this whole stupid city treated her like garbage! I wonder what there going to say now!”

“Oh, you haven’t heard the best part! Marinette has powers!” Nino jumped excitedly.

“Really? What kind? They don’t destroy things, do they?”

“I don’t know but I do know they’re partly the reason she was able to survive on land for so long”

They all walked for about 5 miles from the hospital Adrien stopped abruptly feeling a bit strange in his chest and coughed a few times. Causing the Monks to stop as well.

_“We are close to our water and you feel her strain, I will remove the mask and we will place her over your shoulder to get their water to drain out.”_

Adrien let the monks place Mari-neya on his shoulders after Fu-logum removed her mask and dropped it on the ground. It didn’t take long for the water to come out after it was removed.

 _“Whatever happens, don’t let her go.”_ Wayzz-ato warned.

“I’ll never let her go again!”

 

* * *

 

 

Nino and Alya watched as they removed the mask and placed Mari over Adrien’s shoulders. They didn’t know what was going on and felt a little worried that the mask was discarded.

“Didn’t you say she needed that?”

“Yeah, I did… but something must be wrong now because they’re allowing the water to drain out.”

“Nino, I’m scared for her.”

“Dude, they know what they’re doing… at least I hope they know.”

The group continued there walk after Marinette was secure on his shoulders, and after a while of walking…

“Wait!!! Hold it right there-Ahh!!”

 

      

 

A pained yelp broke the conversation that Nino and Alya had of what Adrien revealed to Nino about the Mers history. The two glanced to the side of the trailing creature to see two police officers clutching their heads.

“I’ll never get use to that! These creatures have some mad mind powers.” Nino whispered to his girl as they walked past two of the creature’s latest targets, two police officers that were falling to the ground in pain. “I would never piss them off!”

“That could have been me, Nino! I kept her away, I hid her and she almost died! They would have blamed me!” Alya started to hyperventilate.

“Almost Al, almost… everything is alright now. Do you think they would have allowed us to follow them if they were mad at you?”

“I guess you’re right.”

 

* * *

 

 

(((cough))) (((cough))) (((wheeze))) (((cough))) (((cough)))

Marinette was coughing out the last of the water. When she coughed, her whole body shook, causing Adrien to hold her tighter. Now he understood why the Monk said what he said; Because he would have dropped her.

They were really close to the beach now because they could hear the water. They could also hear the moans Marinette was making and the slight bob of her head as she tried to wake up. Alya wanted to run over to her, but the creature still stood between them and she didn’t know what it would do if she got any closer.

Marinette slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times because her eyes were blurry. She felt herself moving but she wasn’t touching the ground and she could hardly move her body from the way she was tightly held. She was kind of uncomfortable in her current position and wanted to be put down because she felt like she was drooling from her mouth and water was dripping from her nose.

“A-Alya?” (((cough))) “N-Nino?” (((cough))) (((cough))) Marinette tried to talk but they didn't answer her. Surely this was Nino carrying her, right? it seemed odd that he would carry her this way. 

When her vision finally cleared, her eyes opened on the white shirt and pale legs of the person carrying her and she began to get scared. She only had Nino and Alya as friends and neither had pale skin. Then she turned her head to the lower legs of a light colored three-toed creature walking on the grass and knew she was in trouble...

 

      

 

She screamed…


	12. Almost there

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They made it to the water and Marinette tries to plead for her freedom.

                                           

    Marinette’s screams made everyone stop in their tracks. Again, Alya and Nino wanted to run to her side but the creature in front of them was blocking their way. They felt helpless to do anything, but what could they do? They had no right to do intervene and it was all but confirmed by the way Wayzz-ato admonished them with a side warning glare.

Alya and Nino put their hands up in surrender and Wayzz-ato turned back toward Adrien.

“Ahhh… put me down! Alya?!?!... Nino?!?!... help me!!!” Marinette screamed and coughed.

_“Keep walking your highness, we’re almost there.”_

 

      

 

“But… she’s awake now, shouldn’t I let her…”

_“If you put her down, she’ll run.”_

“Put me down! Put me down! Ahhhhh!!!!!!”

“Can’t you speak to her mind to calm her down?”

_“No, she’s immune to us and will only hear us if she wants to”_

“ALYA!!! NINO!!!! HELP ME!!!! PLEEEAAAASE!!!!!” Marinette was crying and coughing.

“Should we let them see her?”

“Please let me see them, please put me down!” Marinette pleaded to the voice of the person that was carrying her. She had yet to see his face.

She could only see Wayzz-ato shake his head and she screamed even more. Marinette tried her best to jerk herself and it nearly caused Adrien to fall over.

_“It’s better to let them say good-bye at the pier, it’s too risky to allow it right now.”_

Adrien Nodded and they began to walk again which only caused Marinette to cry even more.

“Please, I’m… I’m s-sorry I touched the water, it-it was an accident… I promise I won’t do again, please don’t eat me!”

Adrien was about to talk to his mate but Fu-logum stopped him.

_“Don’t! She’s scared and she’s not going to believe anything you tell her, she has to see it for herself.”_

Adrien’s heart sunk, his mate truly forgot her people and forgot him. Wayzz-ato was in her line of sight and she doesn’t even recognize him. She played with Wayzz-ato when she was small every chance she got, so it was heart breaking to know just how much she didn’t remember. But they were linked, how could she not even feel him or sense him even as he held her? How would she feel at seeing him again when for her it would be the first time? A tear slid down his cheek, he didn’t think their reunion would be like this. He thought it would be joyous, and full of love and kisses. Would she even remember her Mer parents? Surely, they’re waiting to see her more than anyone else.

Adrien could smell the ocean air and hear the waves. Just one day on land felt like an eternity away from the water. he couldn’t wait to taste and breathe the water in again and he knew it would be much sweeter once the princess was in the water as well.

“I HATE YOU!” Marinette cried. “I HATE ALL OF YOU!” she yelled and kicked with her free leg. Now Adrien stopped, those words hurt and he didn’t think he could take another step without calming her down because the more upset she got, the more pain he could feel coming from her and he didn’t like it.

“Your highness, don’t!” Wayzz-ato pleaded out loud for a moment which caused Marinette to freeze at his words. She now realized she was being carried by the water king’s son himself and she was terrified.

But Adrien didn’t listen. He lowered her onto pier and immediately she tried to run but Fu-logum grabbed her.

 

     

 

They were only a few hundred feet to the water. They continued to walk the pier and Marinette was being pulled along kicking and screaming and reaching for her friends with tears in her eyes. She could see her friends close by, but didn’t understand why her friends weren’t coming to rescue her and the look of pity on their faces stung her heart.

 “Alya, Nino… would you like to say goodbye to her now?” Adrien called from behind Fu-logum. Adrien was looking out at the water from the edge of the pier. He could see some of the Mer folk waiting in the water patiently. He couldn’t face her while she struggled to be free, struggled to be with her human friends. He wasn’t sure she would even want him after he turned her world upside down. He really despised that diver for taking her away from him and her people. He was so angry that he touched the railing on the pier and it burst into flames.

 

    

 

Nino, Alya and Marinette flinched at the sudden burst of fire the destroyed the rail. Marinette looked toward the end of the pier and saw the water king’s son for the first time, well at least his back side. She was surprised to see that he actually had blonde hair and didn’t look like a water monster from behind, not like the pink and green creatures that currently held onto her. She looked at Nino and Alya who where now standing in front of her with sad looks on their faces but Nino tried to smile a bit. Alya on the other hand, looked as if someone she knew died.

“Why won’t you guys do anything to help me?” Marinette pleaded. “I thought you were my friends.”

They spoke softly to her as they gave her a group hug.

 

      

 

“We are your friends, Mari… but you can’t stay here, you have to go with them.” Nino said sadly. “I’m really going to miss you.” Nino continued as he wiped his eyes.

“You want them to take me, Nino?”

Nino just looked away. Of course, he didn’t want her to leave, they’ve been best friends for more than 10 years and telling her who she really was would just make things worse if she found out from him that she was the reason the water was cursed to humans.

“And you Alya? Are you turning your back on me too?” Marinette sniffled “Why would you want them to kill me? Are you guys finally giving into that (((cough))) ((((cough)))) stupid town!”

“Can I have a minute with her? I promise we won’t run… I know you have the power to hurt me if we do.” Alya pleaded with the two Monks.

The two Monks nodded and turned away. Marinette took Alya’s hand and was about to run but Alya stopped her. The monks walked to the end of the pier one at a time where Adrien was and stepped off into the deep. Splashes could be heard as they hit the water. Adrien watched as they descended under the water, knowing it was now his responsibility to make sure the Princess took that final step.

“What are you doing Alya? Their gone, we can run away now!”

“The hope in your eyes tears me apart Mari. I would love for you to stay with us but you can’t, baby… you belong to him… to them.”

“What do you mean! I… I… oh my gosh! This can’t be happening!”

Upon hearing Alya’s words, Adrien stepped off the pier and joined his people with a splash. He decided to give the long time friends a moment to say goodbye. He knew it would be hard and he now trusted Nino and Alya to do the right thing if they wanted her to live.

 

     

 

 

After Adrien splashed down into the water, he floated there while his tail returned. A slid down his cheek when he saw how green it was. The last time it was green, he was two. Now he waited patiently for Mari-neya to come to him or for Alya and Nino to do the right thing. 

 

      

 

 “Look, he’s gone! We can leave!” (((Cough))) (((cough)))

Alya just looked even more sad when Marinette coughed up some blood. She had to do this, they had to do this and she knew that was the reason Adrien jumped into the water.

Alya hugged Marinette for a long time and as she did, she gave Nino a knowing look that Marinette didn’t see.

“We love you Marinette… our friend and Jewel of the water kingdom.” Alya whispered softly and before Marinette could move away, they picked her up and carried her to the edge while she kicked and screamed in fear. They looked down at the water and saw Adrien in full tail looking up at them waiting for her along with the other aquatic life waiting with baited breath and they threw her off the pier.

 

      

 

She screamed as she looked for purchase and couldn’t find any. From Alya’s and Nino’s vantage point, it looked as if Marinette falling in the air went in slow motion. As soon as she touched the water, Adrien sprang up out of the water and onto her and pulled her down into the deep. She was gone, yet a chorus of happy mer clicks, aquatic songs of joy rippled across the waters.

 

      

 

 

      

 

Alya cried and Nino wiped his eyes as they sat down on the edge of the pier, looking for any signs of Marinette. All the Mers and Aquatic life descended into the deep and water became calm.

“She’s gone Nino… I can’t believe she’s really gone.”

“I know, I can’t believe it either.”

“Do you think we did the right thing?”

“I believe we did, you saw it… the blood she was trying to hide when she coughed, she’s a mermaid, Alya; she doesn’t belong on land with us.”

“Do… do you think we’ll ever see her again?”

“I hope so.” Nino said as he wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. “I sure hope so.”

 

      

 

 


End file.
